After tossing and turning for nearly an hour, Arizona worried she'd wake Callie for the fourth night in a row and decided to get out of bed. Hoping a cup of hot tea would help her sleep, she went into the kitchen, turned on the light just enough to allow her to see to get around and put the kettle on the stove. Once she got everything she needed, she carried it to the center island where she could just reach over and grab the teapot when it was finished and finally sat down on one of the stools. She was grateful she wasn't throwing up like she had all week and even though she was exhausted, she was so excited for their appointment with Addie tomorrow afternoon for their 13 week ultrasound she couldn't sleep. Hearing the kettle start to boil, she pulled it off the burner and turned off the stove before it made that horrible whistling noise and woke everyone in the house. Pouring the water over the tea bag, she added just a touch of sugar, then let it steep and cool off for a few minutes.
She lifted her hand to rub her protruding belly, something she'd caught herself doing a lot lately, and noticed the shine of her wedding ring glimmering in the moonlight. Looking at both her hand and her stomach, Arizona took just a moment to take everything in and realized it had been quite a while since she felt the need to be alone, to process, to think something through on her own. But right at this moment, the need was there as she thought back to how she got here. In April, she was living in Seattle, content with her life, seeing no reason to change anything. One week into May and she had made the decision to move to New York with Sofia. By the third week in June she had already reconciled with the love of her life and now here she was married and pregnant with Mark Sloan's babies. Shaking her head, she couldn't help but laugh at herself and wondered just briefly how she wasn't spinning out of control, why she wasn't panicking. She knew though, turning her rings around her finger with her thumb, Arizona knew the reason she wasn't panicking, the reason she no longer felt the need to process on her own, the reason she was happier than she'd ever been was asleep in the room down the hall. She and Callie had finally come together as two whole and healthy people and this was the result.
As she made soothing circles over her abdomen, Arizona let out a contented sigh when she thought about how natural this felt, how quickly she adjusted not only to the idea of getting pregnant, but to actually being pregnant. If truth be told, aside from the overwhelming fear at the beginning and the excessive nausea now, she loved being pregnant, loved the fact that she was growing tiny humans inside her body and would be bringing them into the world. It didn't escape her, it was never far from her mind, though she hated to admit it now, this was never a life she saw for herself. That was until she met Callie. She still fought it, she still held on to what she thought she wanted her future to look like until she couldn't imagine a future without Callie in it. From that point, the day Callie stepped in front of a gun for her, she started seeing white picket fences and babies and everything she never allowed herself to dream she could have or deserved.
Arizona smiled, looked down at her protruding belly, and decided to take advantage of her time alone as she quietly spoke to her unborn babies, "Hey little ones, it looks like mommy is the one keeping you up tonight instead of the other way around. I have to get my time in when I can though, mama and Sofia have been hogging all of the prime belly time. Honestly, I think I'm more excited about our appointment with Aunt Addie than I thought I would be and just can't sleep. Mama and I can't wait to see how much you've grown, see your beautiful faces, and hear your little heartbeats again. I hope you know how loved you are. You are mommy and mama's rainbow babies and we've been waiting a long time for you." She stopped, took a drink of her tea, put down the cup and started rubbing her stomach with both hands.
Closing her eyes, she admitted softly, "I was just thinking about how lucky I am, how lucky all four of us are that mama came into my life. Sofia too. I never saw any of this for myself, being a wife or a mom. I didn't think I'd be good at it and well, for a while I wasn't, but that's a whole different story and thankfully you didn't have to be there for that. But Mama changed all that for me. She says I knew what it meant to be a parent before I knew I wanted to be one, but what she doesn't understand is she's the reason I wanted to be a parent. Mama made me rethink everything I thought was important in life. She made me want to get married and have a family, she's the only person who ever owned my heart until Sofia came along, and now you three, but it's just getting bigger, so don't worry, there's plenty of love to share. Loving your mama is the best thing that ever happened to me." Arizona heard a board creak and realized she wasn't alone, then heard the teary, "It's the best thing that ever happened to me too," and felt strong arms wrap around her from behind.
Callie rolled over expecting to cuddle into Arizona, only to find the bed empty. Opening her eyes, she immediately sat up and looked toward the bathroom, expecting to see the light on or hear her wife getting sick. Since they'd gotten home from Florida, she'd been sick more often than not. She'd be good for a couple of days then she would be hit with horrible bouts of nausea that lasted most of the night and they'd hardly gotten any sleep for the past three days. She rubbed her eyes and felt relieved to see that the light was off and there were no sounds coming from the bathroom, then she furrowed her brows wondering where Arizona could have gone. After getting out of bed, she noticed there was a dim light shining in through a small crack in their bedroom door and went in search of her wife. Once she opened the door, she realized the light was coming from the kitchen. When she reached the entryway, she saw that Arizona was sitting on one of the stools with her back towards her and heard her soft lyrical voice as she began talking to their unborn children. This wasn't something she saw often and it melted her heart and though she felt like she was intruding, she couldn't seem to pull herself away from the enchanting scene.
Listening to her wife's little conversation with their triplets, Callie was relieved to learn she wasn't sick this time and her excitement over their appointment was keeping her awake. She wanted to laugh when she heard that she and Sofia were hogging all the belly time. She had a feeling Arizona was awake every morning while she was talking to the trips, but she never knew for sure until now. Just when she thought Arizona was finished, she started speaking again and this time tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks at her wife's words. She knew in her heart she had to be the reason Arizona changed her mind about what she wanted, about having kids, but she'd never heard Arizona say it, or say it like she just did anyway. When she heard Arizona say, "Loving your mama is the best thing that ever happened to me," she couldn't stand by any longer. She walked up behind her wife, tried to keep the shakiness from her voice as she declared, "It's the best thing that ever happened to me too," then wrapped her arms around her from behind.
Arizona thought she would be embarrassed to be caught talking to her stomach or by the things she said. Instead, she only felt the peace that enveloped her every time she was wrapped in Callie's arms. Leaning back into her wife she explained, "I guess I was more excited about tomorrow than I thought and couldn't fall asleep. I kept moving around and didn't want to wake you." Callie kissed her temple and whispered, "I wouldn't have minded. Are you okay?" Arizona knew her wife heard what she'd said and wasn't asking about her physical condition, turned her head, brushed their lips together, smiled softly and replied, "I'm good. I guess I was just being a little contemplative and had a deep conversation with the trips." Callie pulled her closer to her chest and apologized, "I'm sorry I listened. I just…seeing you rub your baby belly and talk to our children, it's just…" Arizona laid her head back on Callie's shoulder, chuckled and finished, "Something you thought you'd never see?" Happy they could joke about it now, Callie replied, "That too. It's just so beautiful to me, how naturally this all came to you, how gorgeous you look…everything." Arizona tilted her head back, kissed Callie's neck and explained, "That's part of what I was thinking about. Not the gorgeous part, the feeling like it's just coming so naturally. I honestly love being pregnant Calliope." Callie smirked and asked, "Can I record that and play it back in about ten weeks?" Arizona stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable pout that Callie couldn't help but kiss away.
When she pulled back, she asked, "Do you think you can sleep now?" Arizona nodded, carried her cup to the sink, rinsed it out, took Callie's hand and let her lead her back to their room. Once they climbed into bed again, Arizona took off her prosthesis, rolled over and curled into Callie's side, resting her head on her chest. Callie giggled and proclaimed, "Your belly is poking me." Arizona slapped her flat abdomen and playfully scolded, "Don't you dare start making fat jokes." Callie kissed the top of her head, caressed her stomach, and responded, "I love this belly. I can't wait until I can feel the kicks." Arizona scowled and replied, "Yeah just remember everyone of those kicks you will find so pleasurable will be landing on one of my vital organs." Callie's voice softened and she answered, "And then I will massage your back and rub lotion on your belly and do whatever you need me to do to make you feel better." The blonde smiled, slipped her hand under Callie's shirt, and asked, "Can I record that and play it back for you in about two weeks when the nausea goes away and the libido kicks in?" Callie moved her hand to Arizona's ass and husked out, "Bring it on baby." Arizona laughed and started rubbing soothing circles on Callie's abdomen synchronizing their movements.
After a couple of minutes, Callie asked, "Have we made a definitive decision on whether or not we should bring Sof to our appointment?" Arizona smiled at how Callie always said 'our' when referring to her appointments. She knew she did it as well, but hearing Callie say it meant a great deal to her, it meant she was keeping her promise to be there every step of the way this time. Tilting her head back so she could look her in the eye, she asked, "What do you think?" Callie shrugged and replied, "I feel like she's old enough to be there. I mean, it's not like she can read an ultrasound so she won't be able to tell the gender. If Addie needs to tell us something she thinks Sof doesn't need to know, she will tell us later or send her on an errand." Arizona replied, "I was thinking the same thing. Our appointment isn't until 4:30 pm, so she won't be missing school." Callie ran her fingers through blonde curls and asked, "Should we tell her?" Arizona smirked and replied, "Nah, let it be a surprise." Callie nodded and agreed, "True, if she knows before school, she won't focus all day." Arizona put her head back down and informed her, "Nicole is sending a car for Addie since we will both be in surgery. I think her plane arrives at 2:00 pm." Callie nodded and answered, "Yeah, that's what she told me today when she called." Arizona yawned making Callie yawn, then they both laughed and Callie suggested, "Okay, sleepy time for excited mommies." She smiled when Arizona cuddled even closer as if she were a tiny animal burrowing into a hole and heard the sleepy, "Love you." She kissed the top of her wife's head, whispered, "I love you too," and both of them were asleep within minutes.
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Callie looked up at the clock and saw that it was 1:30 pm., she had been meticulously cleaning shards of metal and bone as well as smaller shavings of both out of the hip and knee joints of her patient since 8:00 am. She let out a deep breath, rolled her head around her neck, stretched her shoulders and arms, bent both legs, and looked back down into the patient's open femur, muttering, "This is a damn mess!" Dr. Harding leaned over to get a better view, he had never seen anything like this and asked, "What kind of hip and knee replacement was this?" Callie scoffed and replied, "The wrong kind." Finally deeming the area clean, she turned to the young resident and explained, "Prior to 2012, chromium was the preferred material used to make artificial joints. What they didn't know then that we've found out in the past few years, is that metal starts deteriorating in the body within eight years and only lasts for a maximum of ten if it hasn't caused more serious problems like blood poisoning by then." Callie handed him the large syringe and instructed, "Squirt this in there, make sure you get under the bone and everything, keep doing it until you see all the saline come out clear." The resident nodded his head and asked, "Did you use chromium?" Callie scoffed and replied, "Nope, titanium has always been my go to. It's lightweight, yet durable, rust-proof, and doesn't erode. Some people questioned my methods until other joints started failing." The young doctor looked at her in awe and nearly forgot what he was doing.
Maria snorted and asked, "You need me to pat you on the back there since your gloves are all gunked up?" Callie glared at her friend and replied, "I'm not patting myself on the back, I'm stating the truth. I have plenty of awards to support the fact that I am awesome." Maria nearly choked and exclaimed, "Oh no! NO! No, no, no, no. You do not say awesome! That is not a badass ortho word. Awesome is a bouncy perky blonde word." Callie laughed and replied, "So my wife is rubbing off on me, deal with it." Maria shook her head and asked, "Speaking of the perky one, how has she been feeling?" Callie sighed and replied, "Thankfully she wasn't sick last night, but she was really excited about our appointment today so she couldn't sleep." Maria smiled and replied, "Oh that's right, the big ultrasound is today. Are you excited to find out what you are having?" She could see her friend's smile in her eyes as she replied, "We really are, but we won't be finding out today." Maria tilted her head and asked, "Why not?" Callie turned to make sure Harding was still flushing the leg and replied, "We want to do a reveal. Probably next weekend, which reminds me, we need to call our parents and decide on a theme and snacks and…oh my God, maybe we should just find out today. We can't put it all together in…" "Don't you dare!" Maria snapped.
Callie looked at her friend in shock. Maria continued, "You let Lorraine and me take care of everything. Sit down tonight and make a list of guests and give us a theme. We'll take care of the rest." Callie knew she shouldn't be surprised by the offer at this point, but she was. She was surprised and touched, but she couldn't allow it. Shaking her head, she answered, "That's really kind of you to offer but…" "Kind my ass! Cal, you have done so much for us over the past two years and you and Arizona go out of your way to help everyone you can. Just let people do things for you every once in a while." Callie argued, "But a gender reveal, that's usually thrown by the parents, we can't ask you to…" Maria slammed down the instrument she was cleaning and replied, "You aren't asking, I am telling, period. End of discussion." Callie opened her mouth then snapped it shut when her head nurse picked up a scalpel and she wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't cut her over a party. When she just nodded her head, Maria huffed, "Good. Thank you."
Dr. Harding wasn't sure if he should interrupt or not, however he was finished, so he timidly called out, "Dr. Robbins-Torres, I'm ah, I'm all finished here." Callie turned from the end of the table, took the few steps back to her resident and inspected his work. She was becoming more impressed with him with each procedure. Nodding her head, she commended, "Great work Harding." She then took in a slow deep breath to get herself focused again, looked at the clock and realized that she was going to be cutting it really close to make it to their appointment. She reached out her hand and without having to say a word, Maria put the new titanium socket in her hand and she set to work finishing the complex reconstruction. She worked in silence focusing on the task at hand, making sure she did everything exactly as it needed to be done. She had Maria counting the sponges as she removed them, asked Dr. Harding to make sure he kept an eye on every screw and rod, ran her finger behind the bone after each drill, to the point that she seemed almost obsessive. At one point, she felt Maria wipe the sweat from her forehead and whisper, "Cal?" Callie looked at her and responded quietly, "Skier." Maria nodded in understanding. That one word was enough to remind her why her chief was being so careful with this particular surgery on this particular day. When she finally finished putting in the last stitch, Callie sighed in relief, looked at the clock, exclaimed, "Oh shit! Arizona is going to kill me," and ran out of the O.R., gown and all.
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Arizona stood in the elevator in her scrub cap and surgical gown, willing the blasted contraption to go faster while muttering, "Come on, come on." She looked at her watch and it was 4:28 pm. She had her scrub nurse text Addie earlier and ask her to sign Sofia out of daycare but not to tell her about the appointment, so at least she didn't have that to worry about. Hearing the ding, she was about to stick her fingers in the doors and pull them apart herself when they finally opened. Walking as fast as she could, she headed straight to the examination room, knowing her wife was going to kill her for being late. As soon as she hit the lobby, she caught a streak of red and black running through the door and couldn't help but feel relieved. She called out, "Hey!" and watched as her wife skidded to a halt. Callie was sucking in air and bent over to catch her breath while she waited for Arizona to lay into her for being late. When she finally got enough oxygen to her brain, she realized her wife was coming from the elevators and still wearing her gown and scrub cap as well. They looked at one another and burst out laughing. Callie held out her hand, leaned in for a quick kiss, then proclaimed, "Well now I don't feel so bad. I was sure I was in trouble." Arizona laughed, "Me too. I was bringing the guests of honor."
As they started to walk toward the examination room, they heard their daughter yell from behind them, "Mommies! Aunt Addie is here and she came to get me out of daycare." The two women turned around to see their friend's entire body relax as she sighed in relief when she saw they hadn't been waiting for her. Arizona tilted her head in question and Addie replied, "Max pulled me into a consult and it ran over. He's just washing up now and will meet us in the room. I had to run down and get the munchkin. I thought for sure I was going to be in trouble." Callie and Arizona both laughed, looked down at themselves and Callie replied, "Us too." Collectively taking a deep breath, they all composed themselves and the two surgeons started removing their gear while they all walked with a little less fervor toward the exam room.
When they got to the room, they found everything was set up, but Max was nowhere in sight. Sofia looked around and asked, "What are we doing in here?" Callie helped Arizona up onto the exam table and answered, "Well, Aunt Addie and Max are going to show us the babies today and we thought you might want to meet them." Sofia's eyes widened and sparkled as her little mega-watt smile bloomed across her face and her hands came up to cover her mouth. Her little doe eyes darted from her mommy to the machine to her mama and asked, "Really?" Both women nodded their heads and answered, "Really." Arizona knew the answer by the expression on their daughter's face and asked, "Is that okay with you?" Sofia nodded her head furiously and exclaimed, "That's more than okay." Addison watched as Callie continued to help make Arizona comfortable, lifted her scrub top, put the blue paper cover in place, then went back to the head of the bed, took her hand and kissed her forehead. She smiled when the two women just stared at each other for a moment as if they were the only ones in the room. Today she would give them that because to her, these milestone ultrasounds were always special to parents, sometimes she felt as if she were intruding on their private family time as parents were introduced to their child with their assigned gender for the first time.
Deciding they'd had enough googly eye time, Addison stood up to put the gel on Arizona's abdomen just as Max walked through the door holding a very large nectarine in his hand. Callie arched her brow in question and Arizona asked, "Do you always eat your lunch in front of your patients or am I special?" Max smiled, wiped the perfect piece of fruit off on his sleeve and proclaimed, "Actually, this is a very special piece of fruit and I brought it for Ms. Sofia." He handed the little girl the nectarine that was bigger than her single hand could hold and asked, "Do you know what that fruit is called?" Sofia nodded and replied, "It's a peach." Max chuckled and answered, "Close, this is called a nectarine. I want you to hold it for me while we are taking these pictures and I will explain why in just a few minutes okay?" Sofia nodded, sat in the chair and held the large fruit in her hand, careful not to drop it. The minute Arizona realized the type of fruit her colleague had and the fact that he had given it to Sofia to hold, she knew what he was doing and smiled at his thoughtfulness. Seeing her wife seemed to understand the point of this little exercise, Callie bent down and asked, "What is that all about?" Arizona smirked and whispered, "Just watch."
Addison finished putting the cold gel on Arizona's abdomen, earning a playful glare from her patient, wheeled the ultrasound machine closer to Arizona and had the monitor facing so they could all see it. She turned it on and just as she started to put the wand down onto Arizona's stomach, all three of the other surgeons exclaimed, "STOP!" Addie jerked her hand back so fast she nearly lost grip of the wand and asked, "WHAT?" Arizona replied, "We don't want to know. Well we do, but we are doing a gender reveal." Before the red head could say anything, Callie added, "Oh, remind me to talk to you about that later." Arizona's face instantly showed concern and Callie shook her head and soothed, "It's not bad. I was panicking about putting it all together and Maria asked…well TOLD me she and Lorraine would be doing it." Arizona nodded in relief, smiled, then looked back to a perplexed Addison who asked, "You're doing a gender reveal? But…" Callie immediately realized her friend would have the same concerns as her wife and simply replied, "I will go into further detail later, but yes, we both want this, so can you cover up the parts or whatever you do before you show us?" Addie furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out how to do it, she'd rarely had to do this because none of her other patients were world class fetal surgeons. Max walked over, pointed to a certain key and explained, "You can push this key and draw a box around the area and it will black it out for you." Addie looked at him in awe and asked, "Are you serious? I have this same machine; I never knew it did that." They all laughed and Sofia huffed, "Can I see my babies now?"
Addison bit back another laugh at the little girl's possessiveness over her siblings and replied seriously, "Yes ma'am. While I'm taking some measurements and doing what I need to do, why don't you all listen to the soothing sounds of the Robbins-Torres Trio." Sofia scrunched up her nose and was about to ask what that meant when she heard a weird sound coming from the machine. Hearing the sound themselves, now able to identify three distinct heartbeats, Callie and Arizona looked at each other with tears of joy in their eyes, Callie bent down to give Arizona a chaste kiss, then they turned their attention to their daughter. Sofia listened carefully, at first she thought Aunt Addie was being silly and was going to play some music, but as she listened harder, it sounded like little drumbeats, bum, bum, bum, bum. Then she heard, thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump, almost running into each other and realized what it was. Fruit still in hand, she jumped up out of her seat and went to her mommy's side and asked in awe, "Is that their hearts?" Callie smiled at their daughter's quickness and replied, "It sure is smart girl." Sofia moved even closer to mommy and whispered to her tummy, "Hi babies, I can hear you. It's me Sofia." Addison smiled as she watched the little babies react to the voice and knew her friends must be allowing their daughter to speak to them regularly.
While everyone else was enthralled with the heartbeats and watching Sofia's reaction, Addison was more focused on finding out what her friends were having. She moved the wand to the single fetus first, knowing she'd probably have a better chance at seeing the gender more quickly. After getting all the measurements and looking at all the features, she nearly laughed out loud when she noticed this baby was certainly taking advantage of having their own space and was laying spread eagle for the world to see. She had to turn her head so her friends couldn't see her facial expression. She moved on to the two fetuses sharing an amniotic sac, noticed right away neither of them were shy either, turned her head and coughed to keep herself from laughing and didn't know whether she should feel sympathy for them or feel satisfied that they were getting what was coming to them for being such stubborn pains in everyone's asses for so long. Finally finished with her task, she masked all three babies' genitalia and turned the monitor so the rest of the room could see.
As soon as she turned the monitor, both women and their little girl gasped as they saw the pronounced features of the first baby. Sofia proclaimed, "I thought there were three." Arizona replied, there are three, but one baby is by itself and the other two are sharing space." Sofia tilted her head and asked, "Like bunkbeds?" Callie laughed and answered, "Uh, something like that." Sofia looked again and moved closer to the monitor and pointed out, "It looks like this baby has your nose mommy." Callie moved closer and looked at the monitor then looked at her wife and declared, "I think she's right." Max cleared his throat and asked, "Sofia, do you know why I gave you that nectarine?" The little girl shook her head and the man bent down, held up her little hands that were still holding the fruit and explained, "This nectarine is the same size and about the same weight as your babies are right now." Sofia's eyes snapped down to the fruit, then up to the monitor then over to her mommies and noticed her mama was staring at the fruit and both Latinas said in unison, "They're so little." Arizona stared at both of her girls and swore she'd never seen anything more endearing in her whole life.
Addison moved on to the other two babies and Sofia examined them both again, blinked, looked closer and excitedly exclaimed, "These babies have my nose." With that statement, it was like the whole world stood still for just a moment. All three women teared up as it finally hit them…that was only possible through Mark and while they all knew he was the donor, the significance of it all never truly settled in until that moment. They weren't only expanding their own family; they were also carrying on Mark's legacy. Max wasn't sure what just happened, so he stood off to the side saying nothing and soon learned more about his chief and friend than she probably intended for him to know.
Sofia noticed her mommies and her aunt crying and asked, "Did I say something wrong?" All three of them quickly jumped to assure her, "No sweetie." "Not at all big girl." Callie picked her up and sat her on the table next to Arizona and explained, "No baby, you didn't say anything wrong at all. It's just…remember how we told you that your daddy is their daddy?" Sofia nodded and Callie continued, "Well, you have daddy's nose and they have daddy's nose and I think, I mean at least for me, it made it more real that your daddy is still a part of our family even though he is in heaven. We all loved daddy very much and to know that he is still alive through you and these babies, it makes us happy." Both Addison and Arizona nodded in agreement, neither saying anything because they couldn't have said it better themselves.
Sofia smiled and replied, "So it's not bad?" Arizona shook her head and answered, "No honey, not at all. It's a good thing that these babies will look like you." Sofia was quick to add, "And you!" Callie looked at both of them and another realization hit her and she dramatically collapsed into a chair and said, "Oh God!" Addison quipped, "If you faint again, I swear I'm posting this one to my Facebook page." Callie sat up, shook her head and asked, "Do you realize what we've done?" Arizona furrowed her brow at her wife, then arched it as if to warn her to tread carefully. Callie got up, started pacing, and her voice escalated as she continued, "Do you know how high the odds are that all three of these children will have dimples? That's five sets of dimples! Ten dimples and one me! That…That's just not fair. I might as well just take the word 'no' out of my vocabulary right now. My whole life is just going to be one big mess of dimples and yesses and melting into a puddle of goo…and…and…oh God, what if they have blue eyes? I can't deal with one set of those eyes, let alone three more." She threw up her hands then put them on her hips and turned to see the entire room staring at her. She scowled when she saw they were all trying not to laugh at her and finally Sofia looked at her and asked, "What?" Callie's trademark question coming out of their child's mouth just added to the irony and made Arizona and Addison burst into a fit of giggles. Meanwhile, the minute Callie sat down and Addison said Facebook, Max took out his phone and got it all on video. He waved his phone at Arizona who laughed even harder and that pretty much wrapped up the ultrasound portion of the appointment.
Having settled down, Callie wiped the gel from Arizona's abdomen, helped her sit up, joined her on the table and pulled their daughter up on her lap. Max and Addison went over all the labs he had drawn a couple of days prior while the small family stared at the images Addison was able to print before she turned the monitor. Pulling up their stools, Addison smiled and informed them, everything looks good. They are all measuring right where they should be, though I'd like you to try to take in about three hundred more calories a day, at least while you are still experiencing nausea. Arizona snorted, "I have said that to I don't know how many patients in the last four years and just now understand the looks they give me. Addison, why would I want to eat more if I am just going to throw it up?" The other fetal surgeon laughed and replied, "Because as you well know, you would be throwing up the remnants of the undigested food and not the nutrients which is what you and your babies need." Arizona huffed, crossed her arms, and muttered, "That was rhetorical." Addison rolled her eyes and replied, "Well next time keep the stupid questions to yourself." Arizona opened her mouth to say something, then stopped when Callie cleared her throat and glanced down at their daughter.
Satisfied her patient was done pouting about things she already knew she should be doing, Addie asked, "Other than exorcist type vomiting, how have you been feeling?" Arizona rubbed her stomach and replied, "I'm tired a lot of the time but I think that's because I'm up all night praying to the porcelain God." Sofia turned her head and asked, "Why don't you just make your prayers shorter mommy?" Callie bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud, but Arizona could feel her shaking the table with her silent laughter and shot her a dirty look. Softening her voice, she responded, "I'll try that sweetie, thank you." She then looked to Addison and answered seriously, "I've been feeling pretty good. While we were at Disney, I experienced quite a bit of swelling, but Callie had her compression wrap resized to fit my ankle and calf and it really helps to bring it right down. Before you ask, any time it swells, we check for signs of edema and haven't seen any. It doesn't happen often unless I am on my feet for extended periods of time without a break. I'm pretty sure I will be swollen tonight and you can see for yourself." Addison chuckled and replied, "Well, I guess that's it then, everyone is happy and healthy."
When they stood to go, Addison held up a sealed envelope and asked, "Who do I give this to?" Max held out his hand and answered, "I'll take it. I'm not letting Lorraine and Maria have all the fun. If they want to host this thing, they have to include me or I will hold the genders hostage." Surprised, Arizona and Callie both laughed at their new friend's excitement. Callie nodded, held up her hands and declared, "Have at it and thank you. We really appreciate you." The man nodded and started to leave the room when Sofia called out, "You forgot your nectarine." Max turned and replied, "You can have it, they are really sweet. Save it for your bedtime snack." Sofia looked at the piece of fruit scandalized, and exclaimed, "I can't eat my babies!" The other adults laughed, Max nodded somberly, took the fruit and replied, "Right, sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." He then left the room, sent the video to Arizona, Addison, and just for fun, Michael, who always got a kick out of the ortho surgeon's over the top reactions and headed across the street to barter with the two women over rights to be included in the reveal.
After cleaning up the room, the three women and the little girl returned to Arizona's office so she could pack up for the day. While she was waiting for her mommy, Sofia sat at the table studying the picture of her brothers or sisters and couldn't believe how tiny they were. The pictures looked so real that she could see their little feet and hands and count their fingers and toes and she couldn't wait until she got to meet them for real. Looking up, she reached out her hand and asked, "Mama?" Callie turned from talking to Addie and replied, "Yeah baby, what is it?" She looked down at the pictures and asked, "Are they going to get bigger before they come out?" Callie sat down next to her daughter and explained, "They are. Do you remember that calendar we gave you that had February 20th circled?" Sofia nodded and Callie continued, "That is the day or around the day the babies should come out and by that time, they will be about four or five pounds each, the size of little watermelons." Sofia's eyes widened and her expression became one of concern as she looked at her mommy then back to her mama and whispered none too softly, "Can three watermelons fit in there? Will mommy be okay?"
Having heard the conversation, Arizona joined her family at the table, took Sofia's other hand and explained, "It will be a little tight in there and mommy's belly is going to get very, very big. Toward the end of my pregnancy, I probably won't be able to do a lot of things and mama will panic every time I breathe funny. But our bodies were made to stretch and make room for babies. I will be uncomfortable and I might be in pain sometimes, but it will be worth it in the end because we will have three new babies to love." Sofia eyed her mommy's tummy, still not sure how this was supposed to work, then catching a glimpse of her leg, she asked, "Um…will you be able to…um can your leg hold three babies?" Before anyone could answer her, she looked to Callie and asked, "Can you make her leg stronger? Can you make sure mommy is still able to walk and she won't get hurt or hurt the babies?" Both women smiled at their thoughtful daughter and Arizona reached across the table, took Callie's hand and answered, "She already did baby girl. Mama and I have been working on a plan since we found out I was pregnant and she rebuilt my leg and I am already wearing it." Sofia's little body sagged in relief and she nodded, "Okay, good." She then looked to Callie and said, "Thank you mama." Callie kissed her daughter's head and replied, "I would do anything for mommy big girl."
She then stood up, looked at Arizona and informed her, "I'm going to go change and get my things, I'll text you when I'm done and meet you at the car?" Arizona nodded, lifted her head and puckered her lips, smiled when Callie leaned down and kissed her, then covertly snuck her hand around to caress her ass and gave it a little pinch. Callie narrowed her eyes at her then looked to Addie and asked, "Do you want to walk with me?" Addie nodded and followed her friend out the door waving as she left. Once they left the room, Callie started, "Before you even ask, I'll tell you the same thing I told Arizona, I still love gender reveals and baby showers and I want to celebrate those things for my own children. They are still going to be born a specific gender and no matter how I identify, I'm not going to say that no one should celebrate or be proud of who they are. That would completely defeat my whole identity. For right now, we will celebrate the genders our babies are assigned, as they grow older, we will celebrate them for who they become." Addie looked to her friend, blinked, and replied, "Good to know, but I was just going to ask how you were doing." Callie laughed and answered, "I'm good, really excited and already exhausted, but good." Addie nodded and replied, "Good, and then I was going to ask about the gender reveal." Callie stopped, threw her arms around her friend, hugged her close and declared, "Man I miss you. I can't wait until you move here, no matter how temporary it may be." Addie hugged her back and squealed, "I know! I can't wait and I've missed you too."
XXXX
Deciding they weren't sure how many weekends they had left of Arizona feeling like going out, the couple invited Lorraine, Miguel, Maria, and of course, Addison to join them for dinner at an upscale restaurant in the city while Kim kept an eye on Bella and Sofia. They were seated at a large table in the middle of the room with Arizona on the end facing the door, Callie to her left, and Addison on Callie's other side. Maria sat directly across from the blonde, Callie claimed it was so they could irritate each other and by extension everyone else with their bickering. On her right was Miguel and on his other side sat Lorraine. They were discussing the gender reveal, making a list of guests, going through the regular party planning conversation and had just wrapped up when Arizona huffed, tossed her napkin on the table and claimed, "Ugh, I have to use the bathroom again." Callie made a sympathetic face and watched as her wife walked away. They were all engaged in different conversations when someone approached their table and Maria asked, "Can I help you?" Callie looked up to see who her friend was talking to when every hair on her body stood on end, her hands balled into fists, and her blood ran cold. Feeling the Latina's tension and seeing the deadly look in her eye, it didn't take much for Addison to figure out who this woman was.
The blonde looked down the table and in a condescendingly sweet voice replied, "Dr. Torres, is that you? I thought I recognized you. I heard you moved here after your divorce. Such a shame." Callie's nostrils flared, she knew this woman was trying to get a rise out of her but the joke was on her and the punchline would be delivered any minute now when Arizona returned from the bathroom. Callie stared at the woman who smirked and asked, "Oh, do you not remember me? I'm Lauren Boswell. I worked closely with your wife…well, your ex-wife, on a cranial-facial reconstruction a few years back." The more the woman talked, the more Maria and Lorraine put together and Callie could see understanding dawn on her friend's face when she started to say something and shook her head. Callie cleared her throat and replied, "I know who you are, I just don't care and have no idea why you are here talking to me." Seeing she wasn't going to get a rise out of her by her presence, Lauren tried a different track and lied, "I just thought I recognized you and would stop to tell you how well Arizona is doing now. I was just in Seattle a couple of weeks ago and stayed for the weekend." Addison snorted and Callie kicked her to shut her up.
Though all she really wanted to do was punch this woman in the face, Callie lifted her left hand so the woman could see her wedding rings and responded, "Where you spend your time is of no consequence to me. I am happily remarried and I know for certain the woman I am married to now would never cheat on me. Isn't that why you're here Lauren? To try to humiliate me in front of my friends. They all know." The woman's face dropped but she quickly recovered, "So they know that a stranger could satisfy your wife in ways you couldn't? Fulfill her needs because you weren't…" "What the fuck are you doing?" All six heads, in fact every head in the restaurant turned in the direction of the angry blonde who was shooting daggers out of her eyes and waited to see what would happen next.
Arizona walked straight up to the woman who helped her destroy her life and slapped her across the face. "Don't you EVER talk to my wife like that again. In fact, don't you ever talk to my wife again. What I did, it had nothing to do with Callie and it most certainly had nothing to do with you, other than the fact that you saw a weakness and preyed upon it even though you knew I was married. I was wrong, I fucked up in the most monumental way. But I'd hate to break this to you…no scratch that, I would love nothing more than to pop that huge ego of yours and tell you it wasn't about you, I wasn't even attracted to you. I mean look at her. She is gorgeous and hot and sexy and intelligent, and strong, and talented and loyal and honest and everything you are not. She put up with me and put up with my shit for over a year after I lost my leg. I made the choice, the wrong one, but it was more about self-sabotage than anything. You don't get to stand here and gloat! You don't get to stand here and try to make Callie feel bad for the fact that I was a horrible wife and you were just a dirty bitch who tried to ruin someone's marriage. So get your fucking nasty self out of my face before I kick your ass myself."
Lauren stood in the middle of the restaurant, still holding her stinging face and staring at a clearly pregnant Arizona. She looked at the table full of angry faces, then around the restaurant at all the people who were staring at her and finally remembered she had brought a date with her and left her by the door and turned to see that she was gone. When they saw she wasn't moving and Arizona was taking a step toward her with her hand balled into a fist, Maria and Addison both stood up, grabbed Lauren under her arms and nearly carried her out of the restaurant, surprisingly to the cheers of many of the patrons. Once they got outside, Maria slammed the smaller woman against the brick wall, held her arm across her neck and warned, "I swear to God, if you go near either of those women again, if you try to make any sort of trouble for them, if you so much as breathe their names, fuck, if you even look in their general direction, you will find yourself in a world of hurt. Do you understand me?" Lauren nodded her head, Maria pulled back and the surgeon smirked, "I wouldn't have done that if I were you. I have an excellent attorney." Maria smirked back and responded, "Me too, one of the best in New York, he is sitting at that table in there and watched the entire scene. He's also well versed on harassment and what you just did to Cal, was clearly that." Before she could say another word, Addison added, "You do know those two women own a hospital in partnership with Catherine Fox, one word from her to the board and we can have your license pulled so fast you won't know what hit you." Lauren straightened her jacket, looked at the two women who towered over her and realized she'd better quit while she was still standing. She didn't even know what prompted her to go to that table in the first place other than to pour salt in a wound she willingly and knowingly caused. When she saw Arizona again, she realized the last laugh was on her and the woman's words stung more than the slap to her face. Stepping back, she walked away deciding to take the other women's advice and stay as far away as possible.
Arizona stood in the middle of the restaurant still seeing red. She had hoped she would never have to see that woman again. Moreover, she had hoped Callie would never have to see her again, would never have to be reminded of that night she was betrayed by the one person she loved and trusted more than anyone else in the world. She didn't want to turn to look into those devastated brown eyes right now. She didn't think she could take it. They were here celebrating their friendships, their chosen family, talking about a gender reveal for their unborn children and her heart physically hurt as she saw all of it being ripped from her again. Her mind was flooded with memories of feeling alone, all of their friends turning to Callie's side and rightfully so, custody battles and she literally felt her life, her future slipping through her fingers. Hardly able to catch her breath, Arizona sucked in deeply and felt nothing fill her lungs, she doubled over and let out a moan, then ran straight for the door to get outside and get some air. She barely heard her wife calling out to her, couldn't see anything through her tears, felt herself bump into someone and could vaguely feel their hands on her then sighed as she finally felt the cool air hit her lungs.
Callie sat with tears in her eyes as she watched Arizona lay into the woman who helped destroy their marriage. Though the blonde was the last person she ever wanted to see again and her mere presence hurt like hell, she hoped her wife could find closure and she could start to forgive herself. After their talk when Arizona first arrived, though she had already forgiven her ex-wife, she had gotten the closure she needed. She saw and felt the regret as Arizona poured out her heart and told her everything she was feeling at the time. She finally understood it really wasn't about her. But as she looked at her wife now, all she saw was anger and she knew that most of it was geared towards herself. She knew now that Arizona was no longer blinded by her pain and her PTSD and her anger about the leg, now that they had come to terms with it and reconciled, Arizona needed to face this demon on her own and she couldn't have been prouder of her. Once Maria and Addison practically carried the bitch out of the restaurant, Callie stood up to go to her wife and stopped when she realized Arizona wasn't ready yet. She, Lorraine, and Miguel looked on as Arizona finally seemed to process what just happened and went into a full blown panic attack right in front of their eyes. When she ran toward the door, Callie worriedly called out, "Arizona," and quickly followed right behind her.
Maria and Addison were walking back through the door when Arizona ran right into them, clearly having an anxiety attack. Addison grabbed ahold of her and guided her outside and Callie stopped Maria and asked, "Can you call Dr. G? Tell her it's an emergency and we will meet her at her office, then can you follow us to pick up Addie please? I just want to keep her with us until I know the babies are safe." Maria nodded and ordered, "Go, go, I got you." Callie rushed outside and her heart nearly broke when she heard her wife's uncontrollable sobbing. She looked up and down the street and couldn't see that blonde hair anywhere. Walking in the direction of the sound, she found the two women tucked into an alley and Arizona's head was buried in Addison's shoulder as her friend tried to calm her down. Callie walked up next to Addie, took her wife into her arms, and soothed, "Shh baby, it's okay, I'm here, I've got you." That only seemed to make Arizona cry harder and Addison whispered, "We need her to calm down." Callie nodded, reached into her pocket, handed her friend the keys and replied, "Let's get to the car. We are going to see Dr. G." It worried her that Arizona wasn't responding to anything they were saying and just kept crying.
Once they were at the car, Addie declared, "I have no idea where we are going and I need to get her settled down and check her vitals." Callie replied, "My emergency kit is behind the backseat, let's get you two in the back and I'll drive." Callie opened the door, helped Arizona up, gave her a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "I love you." Once again, that only seemed to set her off and Arizona cried even harder. Noticing this couldn't be a coincidence and it had something to do with her, Callie became even more concerned and ran around to the driver's side to start the car. She felt her phone vibrate and was relieved when she read Maria's text saying that Dr. G was waiting for them. Addison grabbed the med kit from the back, put Arizona's seatbelt on, sat in the middle seat and put on her own, then took her friend in her arms again.
Arizona knew she was being moved and maneuvered and she had no idea where they were taking her. Though she knew it wasn't true, her mind was telling her they were going to be dumping her off at a hotel somewhere. When Callie kissed her cheek and told her she loved her, she only started crying more because she was so scared that love wouldn't be enough this time just like last time. She felt Addison take her in her arms and soothe, "Arizona, sweetie, I need you to settle down. These babies need their mommy to be calm. Take some deep breaths with me okay?" Arizona nodded and took in some shaky breaths as she worried about losing her babies all over again. Finally getting some proper oxygen to her brain, Arizona started thinking more clearly and was able to fight back the thoughts that were invading her mind. While Addie checked her vitals, she just stared at her wife's profile, trying to figure out what she was thinking. When they pulled into the parking lot where Dr. Griffin's office was located, one of the worst memories of her life came rushing back and she couldn't help but let out a sob. As soon as Callie put the car in park and heard her wife's anguished cry, she realized Arizona had been having flashbacks of their life falling apart and briefly thought maybe this wasn't the best idea.
She quickly got out of the car, ran around to open Arizona's door and soothed, "Baby, we are only here because I feel like we should talk about how you are feeling right now with Dr. G. I promise you, when we leave, we are leaving together, hand in hand, still happily married." She took a deep breath as that painful memory washed over her as well, then waited for Arizona to make eye contact. Arizona looked up and for the first time since all of this happened, allowed herself to look her wife in the eye. While she saw some pain, she saw mostly concern, but what she saw the most was love and finally let herself breathe just a little easier. Nodding her head, she took Callie's hand then turned to Addie and asked, "The babies?" Addie nodded, put the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff in her hand, and replied, "You're good for now, but take this with you and check periodically and expect a full check up when you get home. I'll get Sof settled in for the night." Arizona furrowed her brow then look behind her and noticed the others in the car next to them for the first time. She murmured thank you and looked up to see their therapist waiting at the door for them.
XXXX
Once they sat down on the sofa in Dr. G's office, Callie made sure she kept a tight grip on Arizona's hand. Stella took a seat across from them and at this point had only gotten enough information from Maria to know that this might be an extremely long and possibly very painful session. She and Cal had dedicated many hours to this particular topic. Clearing her throat, she looked at the brunette, who surprisingly enough seemed to be rather calm other than the concern for her wife, and asked, "Cal, do you want to tell me what happened?" Callie could feel Arizona's body go rigid, took a deep breath and explained, "One of our friends is here from out of town and since we weren't sure how many nights out Arizona would have left for a while, we asked some friends to join us for dinner. We were having a great time, talking about our gender reveal, gushing over our babies, just enjoying our evening really. Arizona got up to go to the bathroom and a woman approached our table. It turns out, it was um…it was the same woman who…" Callie was cut off when Arizona stood up, started pacing the room and angrily asked, "How are you so calm about this?" Callie furrowed her brows and started to answer when the therapist held up her hand.
Arizona turned to the older woman and snapped, "It was the woman I cheated on my wife with. It was the woman who helped me destroy our marriage. She walked up to Callie and was egging her on, trying to upset her and she just…" She turned on Callie and finished, "You just sat there and now you are calmly replaying the whole thing like you're talking about a tv show you watched. How are you not mad? How do you not hate me? You are supposed to be mad and yelling and hating me!" Callie started to open her mouth again and Dr. G asked, "Is that why you're so upset? Because Cal isn't angry." Arizona threw up her hands and replied, "When I walked out of the bathroom and saw that…that…bitch standing their smirking, gloating, talking to my wife. When I saw her fucking face again, it took me back to that place. It took me back to that angry horrible woman who cheated because I wanted to be seen for the person I had become. Do you know what I realized? While I was looking at her, listening to her talk to my wife the way she did, I realized I was recognized for the person I had become…a horrible, mean, nasty person who attracted horrible, mean, nasty people." Callie and Stella both sat back in their seats not expecting that answer at all, though they could both see how Arizona reached that conclusion.
Arizona turned to look at the therapist and recalled, "I just snapped. I slapped her across the face and told her everything I had been thinking, every thought I had about the type of person she was." While she paced the room, Arizona recounted the entire event, up until her friends escorted the other woman out of the restaurant and finally stopped pacing and went to the window to look out into the darkness. Dr. Griffin looked at Cal to gauge her mood and though she wouldn't quite put it the way Arizona did, she too was perplexed as to why she seemed so calm. After a few minutes of silence, Arizona began again in a much softer voice, "Then I stood there in the middle of the restaurant after seeing that woman and I couldn't bring myself to look my wife in the eyes. I knew if I turned around, I would see all the pain I caused her. I knew I would see the anger she felt. I thought about how we were just having dinner with our friends and how I would lose all of it. I would lose Callie and our friends and my home and I saw us sitting in a courtroom again, but this time we were fighting over four children, and I just…I can't…I'd rather die than go through that again and I'm scared to death that I'm going to. So yes, I want Callie to be mad, I want her to yell at me, I want her to fight, because if she doesn't it means she's already given up and we are back in a therapist's office where it ended the first time and I just…if we're done just say it Callie."
Callie sat on the sofa with tears streaming down her face. She wanted Arizona to have her say, to have her closure with that particular demon, she just didn't know the rest of it would all come back too and now she understood the true depth of her wife's pain and regret; how she saw everything stemming back to that one single event. Callie took a deep breath, looked at her therapist asking for permission to speak now, got the nod, stood up and walked up behind her wife to wrap her arms around her waist. Arizona closed her eyes and allowed herself to revel in the feeling for however long it would last. Speaking quietly, Callie explained, "When I first saw her, I wanted to jump across the table and beat the shit out of her." Arizona snorted then asked, "Why didn't you?" Callie shook her head and replied, "Because for one, I knew with all the gloating and shit talking she was doing, she would be eating her words as soon as you walked out of the bathroom and I kind of wanted to see that. But most importantly, she wasn't my battle to fight. My fight was with you, I have forgiven you; you and I have made peace with it and I have found closure with that particular event and have chosen to move on. Sure, it hurt like hell to see her again and that will always be a soft spot, but it didn't make me angry at you, it didn't make me worry about the strength of my marriage. If you would have been nice to her and agreed to go to lunch or something, we would be having a different conversation." Arizona and Stella both laughed at that comment.
Callie led Arizona back to the couch, sat down and pulled her into her arms, and continued, "Arizona, I found closure and forgiveness, but you haven't. I knew the only way you could, would be to let you handle it the way you saw fit and you took care of it pretty much the way I thought you would. Except for the slap. That was a bonus that I will never ever be able to thank you enough for." Arizona snorted again and Callie finished, "You kept blaming yourself, but it took two people Arizona and I wanted you to have your say. I wanted you to be able to tell that woman if you had met under different circumstances, she wouldn't have had a fucking chance with you and you did and you did it with confidence and you believed the words coming out of your own mouth. I needed you to have that chance so you could start forgiving yourself. Do I ever want to see her again? Fuck no. Now that you've had your say, I'll beat the shit out of her if I do. What I didn't expect is for all the other demons, all the other fears to come back." Arizona nodded in understanding, rested her head on Callie's shoulder and tried to process everything her wife just said.
Stella looked at the two women, her original patient in particular and couldn't be happier by the growth she's shown. She shook her head and admitted, "I uh, I was pretty sure I was about to walk into World War 3 if we are being honest." Callie looked at her wife, then at her therapist, stood up, walked to the other side of the room, walked back, sat on the arm of the empty chair and explained, "When I first saw her, I expected those feelings to come back. I won't lie and say I didn't. I literally waited for them. When I heard Arizona's voice, I counted to five before I would look at her because I was afraid I would be angry at her too. When I looked up though, all I saw was the woman I loved defending me fiercely and I realized I wasn't angry, I was proud. I was proud to call this woman my wife and while I listened to the things she said, I understood how blinded that old Arizona was, how crushed she was under the weight of her own pain and PTSD. It's still not an excuse, but it's a reason and that's all I ever needed was a logical reason that the woman I fell in love with would make such a poor decision and it validated to me that she didn't, Arizona wasn't the same person then and she's not the same person now. I'm not angry at you, simply because I'm not Arizona, there's no other reason behind it and just like I promised you when we got out of the car, when we leave here, we are leaving hand in hand with our marriage still intact and our love stronger than ever before."
Arizona let out a deep breath, looked at her wife, then looked at Dr. Griffin and asked, "Where the fuck were you four years ago?" Both Callie and the therapist laughed and the older woman explained, "You both know this wouldn't have gone as smoothly four years ago. But Callie is right Arizona, you need to start forgiving yourself. The one thing I am starting to learn about you is there are patterns, some people call them triggers, I think that's just a little too mental healthish for my taste, but when you encounter something from your past that brought you turmoil or caused problems to your marriage, your mind takes you to that dark place right away and you start to panic. You came in asking for tools the first time you were here. One of those tools is to be aware of that fact, to know that this is a pattern. Throughout your lives together, you are going to come across these things, people, or topics, that will take you to that dark place, that's what PTSD does. Sometimes you can recognize it right away and pull yourself out. Sometimes you need help. That's the second tool, ask for help. Tonight, this panic episode could have been avoided if you would have allowed yourself to remember you weren't in the same place, you weren't the same people, and just looked in your wife's eyes. You would have seen the answers you needed staring back at you."
Arizona thought about those words for a minute and nodded, knowing the other woman was right. Callie cleared her throat, afraid to hear the answer but asked, "Do you…do you still not trust us?" Arizona rushed to her side, caressed her face, and replied, "Oh no sweetie, it's not that at all. It's…by the time she left the room, my mind was already back in Seattle and the only thing I could see in that moment was how devastated you looked and I was already too far gone to realize if I just looked at you, if I just turned my head, I would see this, everything I needed to see in these eyes right here." She then lifted her thumbs to the corners of Callie's eyes and pulled her down for a chaste kiss. Pulling back, she rested their foreheads together and admitted, "I trust you and us with everything that I am. I am so sorry that I freaked out and…" "Hey, hey, none of that okay? I'm not glad you had a panic attack, but I'm glad you didn't internalize it, didn't hide it from me. But no apologies okay?" Arizona nodded and Dr. G asked, "Arizona, how are you feeling now?" Arizona stepped back, let out a deep sigh, looked at Callie and admitted, "There's a part of me, I know it's coming from the dark place, but there's a part of me that's afraid after we go home and you have time to think and reflect that you will get upset and change your mind and…" Callie knew this would happen, she did the same thing, but she was glad Arizona spoke her fears out loud.
Reaching out, she took Arizona's hands and ordered, "Look into my eyes." Arizona looked up and Callie asked, "Do you remember when we first started talking about these things?" Arizona nodded her head and Callie asked, "What did we tell each other when we saw how nervous we were to talk about something?" Arizona smiled and replied, "We said this already broke us and it can't hurt us anymore." Callie nodded and declared, "This already broke us in one of the worst ways possible. But we are past it, we are healed, we are remarried and having babies, and if I get home and think about this later, the thing that's going to upset me the most is that I never got the cheesecake I ordered and I didn't get to bring home the rest of my steak that we paid a small fortune for." Arizona laughed, shoved her shoulder and replied, "You're a goof." Callie wrapped her arms around her, pulled her close and replied, "I'm your goof and I'm not going anywhere."
Dr. G stood up, dusted her hands together, tapped both women on the backs and offered, "Thanks for the extra Christmas money, we were saving for a cruise. You just put us over the top. I'm begging you two, call me in a real emergency." They both looked at her and she explained, "Cal, Arizona, I know you two are deathly afraid of making the same mistakes, and you will make mistakes, you will argue, and that's natural, but you have this, you're good. You don't need me." Callie furrowed her brow and Stella clarified, "Let me put this in terms you two will understand." She looked at Callie and said, "I am a crutch." She looked at Arizona and said, "I am a pacifier." Then she stood back, looked at both of them and declared, "Don't get me wrong, you're great people and you always have interesting conversations, but do you realize I maybe said about 5 sentences in the two hours since we've been here?" Callie and Arizona looked at each other, then at the therapist who smiled and said, "You've graduated, go be adults."
A/N: I promised myself I would never put that woman into one of stories. If you haven't noticed, up until now, I haven't even allowed the characters to say her name. But one of you asked for it and I decided to grant that request for a couple of reasons. One, I've always wanted to see a healed Arizona putting her in her place and pointing out she was no comparison to Callie. Secondly, while I may get a lot of kickback on this about how Callie was the one who was wronged and she should be the one who is angry, I think she needed to see how a healed Arizona would deal with the situation. Finally, I think it is important to remember the two did find closure about this with each other, but Arizona never found it for herself with she who shall never be named again. Hopefully now, she can start trusting herself more and forgiving herself just like Callie suggested.
I know some of you are dying for over the top drama in this fic, but it's not going to happen just to happen. I do agree arguments happen in real life and am perfectly fine with adding more of that to this story to make it more realistic.