Early Friday morning, Callie and Arizona sat in the dining room eating breakfast and talking quietly before their hectic day started. Since Addison and Jake arrived, they'd gotten into the routine of waking earlier, both so Callie could ensure Arizona ate a good breakfast and so they could spend some time alone before everyone else woke up and they had to start rushing around. Depending upon their schedules, the adults took turns taking the kids to school and more often than not, Henry joined Sofia for breakfast since Addie wasn't much of a cook. On the plus side, she did contribute to the grocery shopping or at least the cost, since she wasn't much of a grocery shopper either. Neither Callie nor Arizona minded since they enjoyed grocery shopping together and reasoned that soon their grocery bills would at least double what they are now. They also didn't mind, actually enjoyed their intimate mornings together, talking about their schedules, sometimes cooking together, sometimes just having toast and fruit or cereal, but always holding hands or touching, flirting, teasing one another, or planning.
On this particular day, the blonde decided their triplets were starving and the two women prepared pancakes and bacon. Having finished all of hers, Arizona reached out to snatch the last piece of bacon from Callie's plate and was caught off guard not only by the quick hand that shot out to grab her wrist, but the fact that she was gently but swiftly pulled from her chair and into her wife's lap. Bacon all but forgotten in her hand, Arizona giggled and protested, "Calliope, I am far too heavy to sit in your lap." Any further argument was swallowed on a moan when pale fingers, chewy bacon and all, were enveloped by soft red lips, while darkening blue eyes stared into deep chocolate, full of mirth. Callie pulled her head back, releasing Arizona's fingers with a pop, chewed the bacon, smirked and quipped, "I love it when you feed me." Arizona threw her head back in laughter, playfully slapped at her strong shoulder, and flirted, "You are so bad." Callie wiggled her eyebrows and returned, "I can be verrry bad." Arizona leaned in, sucked on her greasy bottom lip and murmured, "I love that about you." Callie easily slipped her tongue between luscious pink lips, ran it over the roof of Arizona's mouth evoking a soft moan as they deepened the kiss, getting lost in the intimacy of their peaceful morning.
Far too soon, they heard little footsteps nearly running to the bathroom at the same time the puppy who was lying at the blonde's feet, hoping for falling crumbs scurried to the patio door and whined to be let out. Arizona stole one last kiss, stood from her wife's lap and offered, "I'll take care of the tiny human and you can take care of the fur baby." Callie rolled her eyes, looked at her nemesis and muttered, "Gee thanks," as she rose to let the pup out to do his business. Arizona laughed, gathered the dishes, carried them to the sink and rinsed them off while she waited for Sofia to finish in the bathroom. Callie watched as Arizona moved gracefully through the kitchen. Her stomach clenched as she finally took in the full view of her wife's outfit. She'd seen Arizona in many pant and skirt suits, but never while pregnant and this one made her look magnificent. The black pants and jacket accentuated her every curve, while both showing off her baby bump yet not making her look overly pregnant. When Arizona started to walk past her, Callie moved to block her way, lowered her hands to her hips and declared, "You look absolutely beautiful Arizona. Radiant." Arizona smiled brightly, lifted her hands to tuck the corners of Callie's navy blue dress shirt into the collar of her black and navy sweater and returned, "You look pretty hot yourself." Callie leaned down for one more kiss, then allowed her wife to pass.
After checking on the pancakes and bacon they had put in the oven to keep warm, Callie stood at the patio door, sipping her cup of coffee, and watching Tobin run around the back yard. She smiled and stood aside as both Addie and Henry entered the house with the puppy happily galloping in behind them. She quickly put down her cup and took the box Addie was carrying and asked quietly, "Is this the only one you found?" The red head nodded and replied, "In the house yes, but I did find another in my office while I was reorganizing earlier this week and forgot to tell you about it. You can come grab it when you're ready." Callie nodded, heard her wife's voice as she was talking to Sofia about something, whispered, "Thank you. Oh, breakfast is in the oven." then rushed out to the garage with the box and placed it in the trunk. She smiled giddily when she thought about the expression on her wife's face when she saw her little surprise. She couldn't wait to put it into action. Knowing that the temperature dropped significantly overnight, she pushed the panel by the door to open the garage door and reached for her key fob and pressed the automatic start button to warm up her SUV.
Walking back into the kitchen, she was surprised to see both Sofia and Henry with grumpy scowls on their faces as they sat down at the table, waiting for Addie to finish fixing their plates. She furrowed her brow in concern when she saw that her wife looked just as sullen and was sporting an adorable pout. Looking up at her friend, she asked, "What did you do to them? I wasn't even gone for two minutes." Before she could answer, Jake walked into the house, looked at all the grumpy expressions, then looked to the only person who seemed to be perfectly fine and asked his wife, "What did you say?" Addie huffed, offended that she was being blamed, looked outside and groused, "For some reason I will never fathom, they are all upset because it hasn't started snowing yet." Jake nodded in understanding and teased, "That's because you can't drive in the snow, the salt messes up your favorite boots, and you don't like getting hat hair." Arizona burst into laughter and quipped, "Ahhh the truth comes out."
Callie laughed as well, relieved everyone wasn't upset over something more serious and informed the kids, "It's not supposed to start snowing until later this morning." Henry complained, "But I've never seen the snow and I don't want to be in school trying to learn the first time I do!" Sofia nodded in agreement and added, "I've only been here for part of one winter and we didn't have a yard and I really want to build a snowman." Addison looked at Arizona and asked, "What's your excuse for being so grumpy? It's not like you've never seen snow. It snowed in Seattle." Arizona glared at the taller woman and snarled, "Like two days a year, in February, the rest of the time it was just freezing rain, gloomy and gross. Also, for your information, I have never seen my daughter experience snow, so I'm disappointed for her and now for Henry." Then just to piss the other woman off, she walked up to Callie, snuggled up to her side, wrapped her arms around her and whispered, "Plus, it gives me a reason to cuddle up to my own personal space heater." Callie pulled Arizona closer, kissed her on the lips and crooned, "I like the sound of that." Addie rolled her eyes and muttered, "Like you two need a reason to be sickening," and carried the plates of food to the table.
Callie kissed Arizona's temple and declared, "I didn't realize you liked the snow so much. You've never said anything." Arizona smiled, nodded, and replied excitedly, "I love the snow and I can't wait! I haven't seen a white Christmas in years. In fact, I think I was working at Hopkins the last time it snowed on Christmas. It really puts me in the holiday spirit." Addison stared at the blonde, then at the bags full of decorations that have been piling up in the living room all week, felt just a little horrified by the thought of Arizona getting even perkier and asked, "You mean it gets worse?" Callie loved Arizona's excitement, found it infectious, followed her friend's gaze to the bags and knew she was just as guilty as her wife for the amount of items that had accumulated, but couldn't help but laugh at the redhead's question. Her chuckle quickly turned into a squeal, then a clearing of her throat when she felt a pinch on her ass and assured, "I love your excitement and can't wait until we get our house all decorated." Sofia piped in then and exclaimed, "Yay! We get to cut down our tree in the snow and it will really feel like Christmas when I see Santa." Both women looked at each other and shared their secret smile, thrilled that they get to spend this Christmas as a family.
Deciding she couldn't take any more of the sickening sweetness, Addie walked to the coffee pot, filled her travel mug, looked at Arizona and complained, "You really should be more hormonal. When I found out you were pregnant, I was happy for you, but if I am being honest, I was more excited about seeing moody, cranky, caffeine starved, hysterical Arizona. But noooo, you have to be the one damn pregnant person who gets lucky enough to have an aversion to caffeine and actually gets perkier. Who knew that was even possible? I swear if you aren't screaming and cussing while giving birth, I will be!" Jake shook his head at his wife's relentless teasing while both Callie and Arizona took it in stride and laughed, knowing how true it was. Arizona never expected to be so blissfully happy to be pregnant, in fact feared her PTSD would return and Callie, having been miserable during her pregnancy and seeing Arizona at her worse, expected…well, a monster. Arizona shrugged, took a drink of her tea and chirped, "Just lucky I guess."
Addison rolled her eyes, looked at Jake and declared, "Please take me away from all of this sugar and honey before I get diabetes." She then walked to her son, kissed him on the head, repeated the action with Sofia and murmured, "Have a good day at school. I'll see you both this afternoon." When she walked past the happy couple, who still hadn't untangled themselves from each other, she growled, "I suppose I'll have to see you at some point today too. Fortunately, I'll be in surgery most of the morning." She then took her husband's hand and walked through the mudroom to the garage. When Addison opened the door, was hit with the cold wind in her face, saw that the Black Range Rover was running, probably nice and toasty while their car sat cold and untouched, she whined, "Seriously Jake? Why couldn't you be more like Cal and heat up the car for your wife?" Both women broke into a fit of giggles when they heard, "I wouldn't want you to get diabetes from all the sweetness." They were grateful the patient, gentle, man shut the door before the kids heard the string of curse words they knew were flying from the feisty redhead's mouth by this point.
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The first few flakes of snow hit the windshield on their way to drop the kids off at school and the two women glanced at one another, waiting for one of the children to notice. "Henry look!" Sofia exclaimed as soon as her mama pulled up in front of the school. Both adults turned to see their facial expressions as Arizona quickly pulled out her phone and recorded the little boy's reaction as he rolled down the window and caught his very first snowflakes in his hand. He looked up, his big brown eyes full of wonder and excitement as he smiled brightly and proclaimed, "Aunt Cal, Aunt Arizona, it…is it snow? It's so cold and soft and it just melts away." Callie nodded and replied, "That's snow buddy." Sofia rolled her window down as well and Arizona smiled her super magic smile as she recorded both children collecting the slowly falling flakes in their hands and staring in wonder as it melted before their eyes. Callie watched her wife with the same awe with which she watched the children. Though this wasn't Sofia's first snow, it was the first time Arizona experienced it with her and she felt a pang of guilt when she saw the happiness on her gorgeous face and wished she'd had the forethought to record it for her like the blonde was doing for Addison and Jake.
Finally turning off the camera on her phone, Arizona cleared the lump from her throat and reminded the two children, "Try to focus on school and not stare out the window all day. The weatherman said we should have a few inches by tonight, so you'll get to play when you get home." Both kids cheered and ever the ortho surgeon, Callie warned, "BUT, when you go out for recess, be careful of ice and no throwing snowballs." Both Henry and Sofia sighed and returned, "Yes ma'am," and started to get out of the car when Arizona added, "And bundle up, wear your hats and mittens." The two children repeated, "Yes ma'am," and though she was annoyed at her mommies, Sofia stopped before she closed the car door and declared, "I love you…and mama…drive safe please." Both women smiled at their daughter and Arizona replied, "We love you too." Callie looked at Arizona, then at the coat stretching across her protruding belly and promised, "I have precious cargo on board, I will be extra careful." Both women watched their daughter and her friend meet up with some of their classmates as they rushed into the building out of the cold.
Pulling away from the curb, Callie glanced to her right and commented, "It looks like it's really about to start coming down. Hopefully we are at work before it gets too bad." Arizona sent the video off to Addie and Jake, looked up to see the flakes were getting bigger, falling faster and admitted, "As beautiful as it is and as excited as I am for an actual winter with snow, I'm glad you're driving. It might take me a little time getting used to driving in the snow again." The brunette nodded her head in agreement and replied, "It took me some getting used to the first winter I was here. I think I was so accustomed to driving on ice, the snow freaked me out a little. When there's an ice storm, it's easy to see the slick parts, but when the roads are covered with snow, they are that much more slippery, slushy, and you don't know if there is ice underneath and if you'll suddenly lose control." Arizona nodded and replied, "I think that's what I'm worried about." Callie reached out, took her hand and assured her, "If you don't want to drive in the snow, you don't have to. You've got me and I'm sure if something comes up at work and I can't get away, Jake would be happy to help out." Arizona linked their fingers together, grateful Callie understood her concerns, and continued to look out the window at the beautiful snow, just now remembering how it made everything look so fresh and clean.
Watching the traffic ahead of her and seeing how everyone acclimated to the wet roads, Callie moved their linked hands so that Arizona's hand rested on her thigh and she returned her own to the steering wheel. She then smiled and admitted, "When I left the hospital setting, there were a few things I missed, but there's one thing I most certainly didn't miss." The blonde tilted her head and asked, "What's that?" Callie smirked and replied, "All the stupidity in the ER at this time of year." Arizona gasped as the thought just occurred to her, "Oh wow! I didn't even think of that. Yeah, totally not going to miss that. I mean we both have our fair share of emergencies that call us out, but…there's nothing like the holidays in the ER." Callie agreed, "I love that we pretty much get to set our own schedules other than those emergencies." Thinking of the amount of snow they were about to get for the remainder of the day, Arizona commented, "Speaking of, with this being the first snow fall, should I plan on riding home with Addie today when Jake picks her up?" Callie considered it for a minute and answered, "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to plan for it just in case. Hopefully everyone behaves themselves today." Arizona snorted and replied, "Yeah right, just like they do on the first warm day of spring." Callie laughed and shook her head; it was amazing how surgeons could almost predict how their day was going to go based upon the weather or the holiday.
For the remainder of the ride to work, the two reminisced about some of the crazier things they saw over the past several years, both together and separately. When Callie pulled in front of The Robbins-Herman Center, she leaned over, gave her wife a long lingering kiss, and as they pulled apart, did as she always did and reminded her, "Don't forget to eat please. If you have a certain craving, give me a call and we can have someone pick it up or get it delivered." Arizona shook her head at her thoughtful wife and replied, "I won't forget, but you have your own center and patients to focus on and if anyone should be worried about someone eating, I should be worried about you Mrs. Forgetful." Callie smirked and quipped, "You weren't so worried when you tried to steal my last piece of bacon this morning." Arizona retorted, "All is fair in love and bacon Calliope. Don't ever forget that." The ortho surgeon laughed, stole another kiss, then demanded, "Get your maintenance crew out here to shovel and salt please." Arizona popped her dimples and mimicked her daughter, "Yes ma'am." She then got out of the car, blew her a kiss, then turned and carefully walked into the lobby going straight to Dee to do as her wife asked and request that someone shovel and salt the front entryway frequently.
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After finishing her rounds, seeing three patients, and eating her lunch like she had promised, Arizona stopped at the front desk to collect her messages, saw that Erin called to invite her for lunch next week, and quickly returned her call to confirm. Though they texted regularly and occasionally Erin found a moment to call, she hadn't seen her former patient and new friend since her own gender reveal and only saw pictures of the triplets since they were discharged and was excited to see them all again. She added the lunch date to the personal calendar she shared with Callie through an app on their phones, then asked Dee to block off the time on her schedule. The older woman smiled and asked, "Going to get a little practice in huh?" Arizona laughed and replied, "If the senator has her way, we would be arranging marriages." Dee chuckled and declared, "Here I always took her as a forward thinker." Arizona laughed at their ridiculous conversation and proclaimed, "I firmly believe in letting my children make their own choices about who they love." Dee winked at her and replied, "Can't imagine why." The blonde shook her head and replied, "Yeah, me neither."
Hearing an irritating scraping sound, Arizona looked outside and noticed the snow was steadily falling and the cars were covered in a light blanket of snow. Unable to resist, she stepped outside, looked up to the sky and sighed at the feeling of the large snowflakes hitting her warm face. She had almost forgotten how the fresh snow made everything look so much brighter and muted the sounds that she could normally hear so clearly. Quickly stepping back inside, she brushed the snow from her black suit coat, shook the large flakes from her hair, and blushed slightly when she looked up to see Dee staring at her like she was crazy. Laughing at herself, Arizona provided, "It's been a while since I've seen snow." Dee shook her head and replied, "Oh honey, you haven't seen anything yet." The blonde laughed again and informed the administrative assistant, "I've lived in Boston and Germany, so I've seen quite a bit of snow in my time, just not in many years. Ice, I could tell some stories about though." The older woman laughed and replied, "I'm sure you could." Arizona looked at the clock, saw that she had some time before her next appointment, and informed the other woman, "I think I'll pop into Dr. Herman's lecture for a while, see if we have any good candidates for the spring internships." The older woman nodded and muttered, "Good luck with that one." Arizona shook her head and couldn't help but compare her assistant's view of interns to Callie's. Neither of them held out much hope for the new surgeons.
Arizona stepped into the back of the lecture hall and sat down to listen to Nicole as she delivered statistics about the importance of maternal and fetal health. She smiled as she recalled nearly the same words being repeated to her, though much more forcefully. After a few minutes of listening, she found herself more than a little taken off guard when her former mentor started praising her study on the maternal mortality rate which led to the OB crash cart, which eventually led them to where they were today. She was further surprised when a student noticed she was in the room and asked Nicole if Dr. Robbins-Torres could come up and explain her process to them since she was there.
Slightly surprised to hear that her partner had slipped in unnoticed, the older woman happily agreed to turn the lecture over to her protégé. For the last thirty minutes of the class, the two women played off each other's strengths, added to each other's thoughts, and delivered a lecture that actually earned them applause by the end of it. Once the last student was gone and Nicole heard an echo in the room, she tilted her head toward where she last heard the blonde fetal surgeon and smiled when she heard, "Yes Nicole, we're alone." The older woman nodded and surprisingly offered, "Even though you hijacked my class, that was fun." Arizona smiled and replied, "Yeah, it was and I'm sorry about that. I actually came in to see if we had any standout talent for the spring." Herman smirked and teased, "Admit it, you missed my gentle instructional delivery and kind-hearted encouragement." Arizona let out a bark of laughter and asked, "Did you hit your head? You were a damn beast." Nicole waved her hand and scoffed, "Pssh, you were just a horrible student." Arizona smiled, knowing the lecture she just walked in on said otherwise and quipped, "Right, that's why you chose me as your partner. Was Graham not available?" Nicole laughed then and declared, "Graham was a kiss ass. You were a challenge." Arizona stuck her hands in her pockets and muttered, "Right, I was the challenge."
Nicole felt around the table to gather her things and asked, "How would you feel about doing this more often? At least, well at least until the babies are born?" Arizona arched her brow in question and asked, "What do you mean?" The older woman sighed and suggested, "I ah…I've been thinking and we've done everything we've set out to do except get your Maternal Mortality Project off the ground. I know you planned to still do a few procedures and consults, but what if…you didn't?" Arizona leaned against the table, bit her bottom lip, not completely opposed to what her partner was saying and suggested, "Keep going." The former fetal surgeon felt more comfortable voicing her idea, which was odd, she'd never worried about doing so before, but this new Robbins was just a little more decisive and forceful than the woman she'd first met. Putting her things back down on the table, she murmured for Shep to take her to the chair, sat down and continued, "You were talking about going part time and if you wanted to, you could still do that. However, if you were doing research, from your desk a couple of days a week, maybe a consult or two on those days to keep it interesting, then lecturing a class or two, even maybe remotely to other hospitals, like seminars, you could cut down your hours still, even work four days a week, not be on your feet, and get your project up and running."
Arizona walked to the other side of the table, sat down, and tried to process everything Nicole just said. It made sense. It made perfect sense and she was right, they'd done everything they set out to do except that one piece, her piece, the thing that set this whole thing in motion in the first place. She knew she would go crazy if she cut her hours and sat at home with nothing to do. She could still cut the number of hours she spent at the center and be at home and do the research she needed to do from their home office or her bed or wherever she felt most comfortable. At the rate she was growing, she knew bed rest would be inevitable. She realized she must have been quiet too long when she heard, "Say something." Biting her bottom lip, Arizona replied, "I am not saying no, I'm not saying yes either. I need to talk to Callie. We agreed on a plan and I don't want to make any decisions or promises without processing it with her first."
While once upon a time, the former fetal surgeon, the woman who didn't believe in family and put her career first, the one who hadn't yet met Arizona Robbins and only saw the sacrifices she made after she became her fellow, would have scoffed at that reply, this new Nicole Herman, the one who learned just as much from her student, nodded her head and answered, "As it should be." Slightly taken aback, Arizona realized she must have made a noise to tip her friend off because Nicole added, "I told you when we first opened Robbins-Torres, nothing comes before your family and I won't be responsible for causing a rift a second time around. The blonde reached for her hand and gently remarked, "You weren't responsible, but I appreciate you saying that just the same. We will talk this weekend and I'll let you know by next week." The older woman nodded and answered, "Good, now get out of here, I need to prepare for my next class." Arizona laughed and left the room.
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As Arizona headed toward her office, she frowned when she saw the door was open, then laughed when she heard the muffled curse coming from the deep husky voice she would know anywhere. Walking into the room, she saw her wife standing on a step ladder hanging Christmas lights along the ceiling. Clearing her throat so as not to startle the ortho surgeon and make her fall off the ladder, she asked, "Honey, what are you doing?" Still holding the string of lights over her head, Callie peeked under her arm and replied, "I was trying to surprise my wife by decorating her office, but these damn lights aren't cooperating." Arizona looked around her office, saw the glittery pink garland hanging from the front of her desk, the lights her thoughtful wife was stringing around the room, her beloved snow village sitting on a small table that looked to be from one of the patient rooms, and some toy elves she had saved from her tiny humans throughout the years and her heart did that flip again as her whole body filled with warmth. Callie hadn't decorated her office since the first year they were together and the fact that she was doing so now meant the world to her.
She waited until Callie finished struggling with the string of lights, stepped down off the ladder, then immediately went to her, pulled her into her arms and connected their lips in a long sensual kiss. Pulling back, she ran her fingers through the soft stubble on the side of Callie's head and murmured, "I can't believe you did this, it's beautiful, and so thoughtful." Callie blushed slightly, ran her hands up and down Arizona's back and explained, "It's been a long time since I've done this and I could never forget the look on your face the first time you saw it. The last few years, I thought about it more and more and I promised myself, if…when we got back together, I would do it again, just to see the joy in your eyes, the smile on your lips." Arizona narrowed her eyes, fiddled with the top few buttons on Callie's shirt since she had removed her sweater and asked, "You liked my expression or you liked the thank you that followed?" Callie bent down for another kiss and hummed, "Mmm maybe a little of both." Arizona felt Callie's tongue run across her bottom lip and immediately granted her access, deepening the kiss to show her just how grateful she was.
When the kiss finally ended, Arizona looked around and asked, "Where did you find all of this?" Callie smiled and replied, "Some of it was in the pool house tucked away in a closet and Addie found another box in her office earlier this week." Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's neck and murmured, "I really have the most thoughtful wife in the entire world." Callie slipped her hands under Arizona's suit coat, untucked her silk blouse, caressed her bare skin and replied, "There's nothing I wouldn't do to put a smile on your beautiful face." Arizona leaned in and flirted, "Then kiss me, that always makes me smile." Callie bent her head, brushed their lips together, both of them smiling until the brunette nibbled on the full top lip, deepening the kiss, and moaned when she felt Arizona's body melting into hers. Knowing how quickly they could get carried away and wanting to finish the decorations before she needed to go back to her office, Callie regretfully pulled back and whispered, "How was that?" She received a beaming smile in return as Arizona replied, "Toe curling." Callie laughed and tapped her wife on the ass as she turned and walked toward the table in the center of the office, tucking her shirt back in as she went.
Callie followed her, reached into the box labeled, 'Office X-mas', pulled out a very sad looking shimmery pink tree that admittedly had lost its shine, shook her head and laughed as she teased, "You weren't kidding when you said you could use a new one." Arizona smiled at the decoration that had become so valuable to her, carefully took it in her hands and defended, "It's not that bad." Callie eyed the small tree and exclaimed, "Arizona, there's surgical tape holding some of the branches together and is that…" Arizona laughed and finished, "Yes, yes it is." Callie burst into a fit of giggles and stated, "I can't believe you used pink cast material on the trunk! Is it holding it together?" Arizona looked at the sad little tree and couldn't help but laugh as well as she answered, "Um…maybe." The poor tree was truly a mess. The first couple of years, she kept it and put it in her office as a reminder of how much her girlfriend and wife loved her. In the later years, she just couldn't part with it, it still reminded her of that love, but it also reminded her of the great loss and in her mind, it was one of the only things she had left.
Callie looked at the tree and though upon first sight it appeared to be an atrocity, she understood it's true value and she could see how much Arizona loved and did her best to preserve this little thing that almost seemed to be an afterthought, something she picked up on her lunch break ten years ago to make her girlfriend smile. She could see the same love for both her and the tree shining in those ocean blue eyes now. Looking at the box containing the new tree they purchased together last weekend, she asked, "Which one would you like to put up?" Arizona looked at her wife, the woman she thought she'd lost, recalled their vows to start fresh, and replied, "Let's put the new one up. But we aren't throwing this one away." Callie shook her head and agreed, "No, never. This is another reminder of where we started and how far we've come." Arizona put the raggedy tree on the table, slid her arms around Callie's waist and suggested, "I guess I'll just have to show you how much I appreciate this one now won't I?" Callie nodded, already leaning in for another kiss, and pulled Arizona closer, held her tighter, thinking of just how close she came, they both came, to never having a love like this again.
Once they were finished with the decorations, Callie turned off the overhead lights, plugged in the Christmas lights, pulled Arizona toward the sofa with her, and they both held one another, looking around the room that was now filled with holiday spirit. Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder and whispered, "This is nice. It feels like that first Christmas, thank you for doing this." Callie kissed her temple and replied, "It does and in many ways, it is our first Christmas again." Arizona smiled and replied, "I can't wait until tomorrow. I'm so excited to go find our tree and cut it down on our own." Callie smiled her mega-watt smile, her wife's Christmas spirit was always so contagious and she agreed, "Me too! Oh, and we get to take Sofia's picture with Santa and…" She stopped herself mid-sentence, looked down at Arizona's baby bump and asked shyly, "Do you…would you um, would you be willing to take a picture with Santa too? It is our bump's first Christmas." Arizona's dimples popped, it was rare that Callie showed this side of herself, the cute sentimental side not many people got to see and answered, "Of course I will, as long as you will be in the picture with me. Maybe we could get it made into an ornament." Callie kissed Arizona's cheek and exclaimed, "We can make it the whole family." The blonde nodded then jumped when she felt a vibration on her hip and Callie looked down to see her pager going off.
Looking at the 911 page, the ortho surgeon sighed and replied, "Looks like I spoke too soon this morning. MVC on the bridge and I'm getting the overflow." Arizona frowned, kissed a soft tan cheek and offered, "If you get too backed up and need some help, let me know." Callie stood and responded, "I will. I'd rather you went home with Addie and got some rest though. You've had a long hard week with a couple of late nights already." The blonde nodded, she did have a rough week and was very tired, but she hated the thought of Callie coming home late without her. Taking her wife's hand, she walked her to the lobby, kissed her chastely and whispered, "Go be awesome!" Callie smiled, hugged her tightly and replied, "I don't think I've ever told you how much I've missed that. I'll text or call when I can."
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Callie stumbled her way through their bedroom in the dark, not wanting to turn on any lights so she didn't wake Arizona. Though she was nearly freezing, she opted to forego pajamas and depend upon her wife's body for warmth. She smiled when she lifted the covers and saw that, as had become her habit throughout her pregnancy, her wife was also naked. Slipping into the bed and sliding behind the sleeping form, Callie let out a sigh of relief when her body instantly started warming up. "Oooh, you're freezing." Arizona whined in her half asleep state when she felt Callie cuddle up behind her in the bed. Callie wrapped her arm around Arizona's protruding baby bump, pressed her cool lips against the warm bare skin of Arizona's neck, slowly licked at the shell of her ear and whispered, "You could warm me up with your body heat." Arizona felt a shiver run down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold body pressed against her and everything to do with the warm breath on her skin and deep sexy timbre of her wife's voice. Turning to her other side to properly greet her wife, Arizona rested her residual limb on Callie's curvaceous bare hip, wrapped one arm around her back, slid the other under her neck, cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a long sensual kiss, while slowly rubbing their bodies together, creating a rhythm that had both women suddenly feeling the heat building between them.
When the kiss came to its natural end, both women were breathing heavily and their hands were still roaming the bare skin of the other. Arizona ran her fingers through Callie's tousled hair and asked, "What time is it?" Callie skimmed her hand from Arizona's thigh, over her ass, up her rib cage, and finally let it still when it landed on the curve of a full pale breast, responding, "It was just a little after 11:00 pm when I pulled into the garage." Arizona lightly scratched her short nails up and down Callie's back and offered, "I tried to wait up for you, especially after I got your text saying you were on your way." Callie sighed at the delicious feeling of holding her wife in her arms, their skin touching, kissed the blonde's warm forehead and answered, "You need your sleep." Arizona nipped at Callie's bottom lip and pouted, "I know, I just hate going to bed without you." Callie nodded and agreed, "Me too." She then smirked and added, "But I love the idea of knowing that my wife is in bed waiting for me, all warm and cuddly." Arizona pulled Callie closer, slipped her right leg between muscular tan thighs, rolled her hips and whispered, "Mmm, and maybe a tiny bit wet. I was just starting to dream about this hot, sexy ortho surgeon slipping into my bed in the middle of the night. If I remember correctly, I was just about to give her the thank you I promised earlier." Callie licked at the luscious top lip that was only millimeters from her own and asked, "Is that right?"
Callie ground herself down on the strong thigh that was slowly rubbing against her sex, moved her own leg a little higher and rolled her eyes at the exquisite sensation of her wife's hot juices slathering her thigh and moaned, "Hmm, just a little wet huh?" Arizona tossed her head back, gasped when Callie sucked at her pulse point, and admitted, "This is what you do to me every time you touch me or I think of you touching me." Callie could feel her own arousal seeping from her throbbing sex and hissed, "God you feel so good. Only you do this to me baby." The two women easily picked up a rhythm that was so familiar, as natural to them as breathing, and rocked their hips together, slowly moving one another toward the edge of the abyss. Neither was in a hurry to reach their climax nor to try to dominate. This union was all about connecting, sharing their passion for one another, showing each other with their bodies how much the other was missed throughout the day.
As the fire began to build in the pit of her stomach, Callie tangled her fingers in tousled blonde curls, gently pulled her wife's face to hers and before their lips even touched, their tongues sought one another out, joining in the familiar dance, carrying them higher. Arizona's body tingled everywhere Callie touched her, she ached to feel more, the need for release bubbling to the surface. She allowed her left hand to wander her lover's rippling muscles, caress her smooth skin and reveled in the feel of the tiny goose bumps that arose on the now overheated tan flesh. Knowing both of their bodies as she did, she could feel their impending climax and ran her hand down the sleek toned arm to the hand that was firmly planted on her ass, guiding the movements of her hips, linked their fingers, brought their hands between their sweat soaked bodies, directed Callie's fingers to her dripping core, broke the sensual kiss and panted, "Inside, I need you inside, I need to be inside you." Callie obeyed the command and both women cried out as their lover's fingers entered their tight needy channel, felt them being pulled deeper by the pulsating walls, thrust once, twice, and they came together on the third, whispering one another's name in a room so quiet, it sounded like a scream. Content to stay where they were while they came down from their high, both hands continued to slide in and out, allowing the other woman to feel as much pleasure as possible before their sensitive bundle of nerves could no longer take even the slightest touch.
When their fingers were released from the tight hold of their lover's sex, each of them brought their hands up to the other's mouth, brushed their own arousal over kiss swollen lips, then joined them together in a long passionate kiss tasting of their combined juices. Finally pulling back to catch her breath, Arizona rested her head against Callie's and murmured, "Hi, welcome home and thank you for decorating my office." Callie smiled softly, brushed their lips together once more and returned, "Hi, thanks for warming me up." Arizona caressed her bare back and offered, "Oh, you're plenty hot all on your own." The brunette smiled at the compliment, rolled to her back, pulling the blonde with her until her head was resting on her chest and her large baby bump settled into the curve of her side, and they both sighed in contentment.
After several long moments of silence, Arizona asked, "Was it horrible today?" Callie nodded and replied, "The car accident was pretty bad. That only took us until about 9:00 pm with all hands on deck. Just as we were finishing up, some kids who decided to impress their friends and do donuts in an empty parking lot ran into a light post and I had to rebuild one kid's shoulder and I'm still worried about the other boy's foot." Arizona shook her head and replied, "I still wonder where the hell these parents are when this stuff happens. There's no way either of us would let Sofia drive or get into a car with a friend in this weather." The ortho surgeon tilted her head, chuckled, and recalled, "You used to get so angry at the parents and I just waited for you to blow one day, but you never did." Arizona laughed and asked, "Why do you think I took Karev under my wing? I knew he would say the shit I really wanted to say." Callie laughed heartily, shook her head, and repeated Arizona's earlier words, "Ahh, the truth finally comes out. We all thought you were crazy for letting him loose with kids." Arizona laughed and retorted, "Because Yang was so much better." Callie physically shivered and replied, "Ooh no. That was a disaster waiting to happen." Arizona looked up and teased, "Yet here she is, our daughter's Godmother." Callie shook her head and revealed, "Yeah, not sure what I was thinking there. At least she no longer calls Sofia a beakless chicken." Both women chuckled at that then became quiet, lost in their own thoughts about their friends.
Arizona covered Callie's hand, which was absentmindedly drawing patterns over their unborn children and suggested, "I guess we need to start talking about Godparents and all that pretty soon." Callie lifted her head, slightly surprised and asked, "You want them to have Godparents? But you don't…" Arizona interrupted, "No, but you do and Sofia has a Godmother and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense, especially with our parents getting older. Callie nodded and returned, "Before we do that, we should probably name them though, don't you think?" Arizona smiled and answered, "Yeah, we can't call them gremlins forever." Callie laughed and defended, "I haven't called them that for a while now." Arizona laughed and replied, "They'll always be our little gremlins." The brunette kissed her wife's head and answered, "They will. It's only fitting, at least they stopped multiplying though." Arizona groaned, "Oh God, don't even joke about that. There's no room in there now and we still have another 14 weeks to go." She looked up when Callie gasped and asked, "What?" Callie shook her head and proclaimed, "I know it probably feels like a lifetime to you, but…God, it feels like it went by so fast." Arizona smiled and agreed, "It really does. I'm doing my best not to panic about everything we still need to do." Callie pulled her tighter and asked, "Is it something you've been worried about?" Arizona shook her head and revealed, "Not really, I feel a lot better after our shopping trip last weekend. I know we will get it done." Callie sighed and agreed, "We will and we have lots of extended family to help." Arizona nodded in agreement.
Callie's eyes were feeling heavy and she smiled into soft blonde curls as she thought about their first real family holiday and suggested, "We should probably get some sleep. You know Sofia will be dressed and ready to go before we even wake up." Arizona yawned, cuddled closer into her wife's warm body, and muttered, "I love you Calliope." She smiled when she only received an indecipherable grunt in response and closed her eyes, allowing her wife's slow and steady heartbeat to lull her to sleep.
A/N: My apologies about the longer wait. I really want to finish this story and give it the focus and justice it deserves. When I sat down to write this chapter, I found myself struggling because I am just as excited to get to the fun stuff as you are, however I realized that I wouldn't be doing the story or the girls justice if I rushed to the end. I also don't want to cheat those of you who have been on this very long journey with me out of the quality of writing and attention to detail to which you have become accustomed as well as the high standards I set for myself.
With all that said, I also found it was hard to switch back and forth from one mindset to the other, so my updates to It Is So Easy may not be as frequent. I won't abandon it altogether and I will finish it because I absolutely LOVE that story. So please, bear with me.
I hope to have the next chapter – the family tree excursion, posted within the next few days. I could have added it to this chapter, but I didn't want it to be rushed.