When Callie pulled into the circle drive in front of their house, it was nearly 8:30 pm and while Sofia awoke thirty minutes ago, Arizona was drifting in and out, seemingly unable to get comfortable between her aching leg, her swollen belly, and her upset stomach. Currently, the blonde was resting peacefully and she didn't want to disturb her until she had to. Turning off the ignition, Callie got out of the car, opened Sofia's door and asked, "Sweetie, I'm going to unlock the door, then help mommy in, her leg is hurting a little tonight. Would you mind running out and asking Uncle Jake if he could come help me carry the tree in the house and put it in the stand?" Sofia nodded sleepily then tilted her head and asked, "Since we are all so tired and mommy's leg hurts can we wait until tomorrow to decorate?" Callie walked her daughter to the front door, kissed the top of her head, smiled down at her and replied, "Of course baby. The branches need to settle and mommy and I were thinking it would be more fun if we were all well-rested and we have all day tomorrow to get it just how we want it." Sofia yawned, smiled at her mama, giggled, and answered, "I think that's a good idea." She then scurried through the house to the patio doors and disappeared into the back yard.
Callie walked around to the passenger's side, opened Arizona's door and whispered, "Wake up honey, we're home." She watched as glassy blue eyes blinked several times then finally seemed to focus and a soft adorable smile spread across full pink lips making her heart melt. Arizona reached out, caressed the side of her face, drew her down for a lazy kiss, then rested their foreheads together, giving herself a moment to fully wake up. When she started to move, Callie reminded her, "Honey, you need to secure your leg again." Shaking her head to clear the sleepy haze, Arizona blushed slightly and revealed, "I almost forgot." Callie reached in to push her prosthetic firmly into place and asked, "Does it still hurt?" The blonde shook her head and replied, "No, not just sitting here, we'll see how it feels when I stand. Stay close." Callie helped her turn and step out of the car, responding, "Always." When Arizona put her full weight on both legs, she exhaled slowly, relieved when she didn't feel the aches or pain she felt earlier. Nodding to Callie, she informed her, "It's good, I'm good." Callie smirked and retorted, "Too bad, I'm still not letting you go." Arizona chuckled, leaned into Callie's side and allowed her wife to guide her into the house and help her remove her coat and boots.
While Jake and Callie were wrestling with the tree with Addison's not so helpful guidance, Sofia and Henry were playing on the living room floor with Tobin, and Arizona sat on the sofa, sipping on ice water, her mouth still burning from their antics with the peppers. Addison stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips, head tilted slightly to the right and ordered, "About 6 inches to your left Cal." Callie did as she was told and the redhead huffed, "No, your other left." The brunette turned and glared at her, then snarled, "That's what we call the RIGHT Addison." Now having to overcorrect, Callie moved 12 inches to her right. Addie hummed, "Mmm it still doesn't look straight." Jake, who was lying on the floor looked up at his wife and grumbled, "Maybe it would help if you quit tilting your damn head!" Callie muttered, "Did you have to bring her?" Jake hissed back, "You should have seen her last week…and where the hell were you when I put up my own damn tree?" Callie opened her mouth, snapped it shut and mumbled, "Sorry, you could have asked for help." She then looked down at the man and gave him one of her charming smiles, one which she rarely ever used anymore, but knew always worked, watched the man blush, then they both continued to follow the misguided instructions of the slender redhead.
Arizona shook her head and giggled at the comedy of errors that was playing out before her. Unconsciously rubbing her protruding belly, she watched her wife and her best friend argue back and forth, listened to the kids giggling and rolling on the floor, heard the soft din of the Christmas music playing in the background, and her heart swelled with a joy unlike she had ever felt before. All the noise seemed to fade out as Arizona looked around her home. She couldn't believe it was only seven short months ago that she'd walked through these doors feeling like a stranger in a strange world. It was all so surreal, yet so familiar. Her ex-wife who was practically a stranger was an entirely new person and she began to fall in love with her all over again from the moment she stepped off the plane, even before that if she were being honest. The place she now called home, while it was unfamiliar to her, felt like home from the very beginning, it was designed with her needs in mind and decorated with a mixture of both of their personalities. Glancing to her right, she saw the wall of photos that caught her eye the very first morning she'd arrived. They'd been rearranged since then, some added, some taken away. Sitting center stage of this arrangement was a new wedding photo; she in her vintage gown and Callie in her matching tux. Surrounding it was a photo of their entire wedding party, friends old and new and both sets of parents. Dotted around were some of the same pictures of their life together in Seattle, including that first wedding photo along with new memories and friends they'd made in New York. It was a perfect mixture, a timeline of their lives that told the story of how they got from there to here.
Absently taking a sip of her water, Arizona focused in once again on the person who owned her heart for the last ten years and would for the rest of her life. Currently, she could only see her muscular forearm reaching around from behind the tree, but that was enough, because at the end of that arm was her hand, the hand that held the rings that bound them together for a lifetime. Her mind carried her back to their apartment in Seattle, their first Christmas as a family. They'd all decided on a fake tree because Sofia was still a baby and they didn't know if she had any allergies and they were still concerned about respiratory problems. After having decorated it together, she and Callie lay cuddled on the couch with a sleeping Sofia and promised each other that next year, they would get a real tree, cut it down themselves, and take their daughter to see Santa. But the next year, she couldn't remember if they even had a tree. She was in her own darkness, Mark was dead, and she had all but shut Callie out. By the time Sofia's third Christmas rolled around, she had made the worst choice of her life and spent the holidays with Karev and a sorry ass Christmas tree decorated with toilet paper. They had a decent Christmas the following year, trying to put their life back together, but there was the underlying pain of the last two years and by the next year, they were no longer married. She felt the tears stinging the backs of her eyes and almost like she could sense her distress, her wife appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around her.
Finally getting the tree perfectly situated in the stand, Callie looked up to ask Arizona what she thought and saw that her wife had gone somewhere else. She had a soft smile on her face, but the glassiness of her bright blue eyes said she was on the verge of tears. Looking closer, Callie could see the underlying sadness and knew the blonde was thinking of Christmases past. Without drawing attention to her, she went to the sofa, sat next to her, drew her close and whispered, "That's all done now, this is New York Callie and Arizona and we will never celebrate another Christmas apart." Arizona turned, buried her head in Callie's neck, inhaled the muskiness of her skin combined with the scent of evergreen, and just a lingering hint of her cologne, and her body instantly relaxed. She kissed the warm tan skin of her neck and whispered, "Thank God."
Callie kissed her forehead, held her closer, then pointed to the tree and asked, "What do you think?" Arizona looked up, winked at her, smirked, and just to get a rise out of Addison, declared, "It looks a little crooked." When Addie turned around and glared at her, Callie chuckled, making her head bob. Seeing they were both laughing, the slender woman hissed, "I hate you." Arizona blew her a kiss and complimented, "You did an amazing job bossing them around." Addie smiled then and plopped on the sofa next to them. Callie wrapped her other arm around her friend, pulling her close as well and let out a sigh of contentment. Like her wife, she'd been thinking of all of those holidays gone to waste, spent alone out of their own doing, and was thrilled to have her family back along with the bonus of celebrating with her best friend and her family.
The three of them heard a click and looked up to see Jake standing in front of them snapping pictures. Of course, for the next one, they all stuck their tongues out and Addie and Arizona both thought to give each other bunny ears. Shaking his head, Jake declared, "See, that's why I had to take some while you weren't looking." They all laughed and Henry reminded his mom, "I'm still hungry, you said we could order pizza." Addison's eyes grew wide and she groaned when she looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 10:00 pm. She slapped her hand over her face and muttered, "I'm the worst mother in the world." Sofia popped up and asked, "Can we have pizza too?" Callie and Arizona both looked at one another skeptically, knowing they couldn't handle anything spicy. Before they could answer, Addison glanced up from her phone and declared, "Oh here's a family deal, 2 pizzas, bread, wings, and a salad. What do you want on your pizza?" Sofia and Henry both hollered, "Pepperoni!" at the same time and Addison looked to Callie and Arizona and proclaimed, "I'm assuming you want peppers, we could get…" "NO PEPPERS!" Both women exclaimed adamantly causing Addie to jump and Sofia to fall into a fit of giggles.
Narrowing her eyes, Addie pointed at the two women then asked, "Why do I feel like there's a story here?" She watched as the couple shared a knowing look and Callie rubbed the back of her neck, then Sofia declared, "Mama and Mommy had a pepper eating contest at the taco truck!" Addison put her hand in the air as if she were making the stop motion and asked, "Excuse me? You did what now?" Arizona took a drink of her ice water, handed it to Callie, and explained, "We were eating nachos and well, we ended up having a pepper eating contest." Addison looked from one woman to the other, back to Arizona and asked, "Are you crazy? Callie can eat spicy stuff like there's no tomorrow and practically drinks salsa." Arizona put her tongue in her cheek and snorted, "Yeah, she's a real bad ass." Callie glared at her wife, slammed the rest of the water and handed the glass back to her.
Avoiding eye contact with her friend, Callie turned to Jake and offered, "Thanks so much for your help. I didn't realize how heavy that thing was." The redhead narrowed her eyes and hissed, "Don't tell me you lost!" Without turning around, Callie muttered, "Okay, I won't." Arizona started giggling and bragged, "No, but I will. She lost." Addie put her hands over her mouth and let out a muffled, "Oh my God!" Sofia chimed in, "Mommy even won money because no one thought she would beat mama." Addison howled with laughter, held out her arms for the little girl and suggested, "Come here and tell Aunt Addie all about it." Sofia climbed on her lap and retold the entire story, complete with facial expressions both of her mommies made while they were eating the peppers. By the time she was finished, Callie and Arizona were staring at her with their arms crossed and Callie defended, "I did not make that face!" Arizona sputtered, "I can't even do that with my face." They both accused, "You're exaggerating!"
Addison wiped the tears from her eyes and stated, "Oh this is just amazing. How much did you win?" Arizona's dimples popped and she proclaimed, "Four hundred and eighty dollars." Picking up her phone again, the redhead declared, "So you're buying. One white pizza, one pepperoni, plain wings, and breadsticks with cheese?" They all nodded in agreement and she quickly sent in the order. Callie asked, "How long before the pizza comes?" Addie looked down at her app and replied, "30 to 45 minutes." The brunette nodded and declared, "We are all sticky and sweaty and I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable. How about we break for nighttime rituals then meet back in 30 minutes?" Addison agreed and Jake looked to Henry and suggested, "Come on son, let's get you in the bath and into your pj's then we can come back over for pizza." The little boy quickly donned his coat, hugged Sofia and followed his parents out the door.
Arizona looked to Sofia and asked, "Do you want help with your bath water?" Sofia shook her head and declared, "No, I think I can get it. But is it okay if I take a shower?" The blonde smiled at her daughter's assertion of independence and nodded, "Of course you can. Just holler if the water temperature doesn't want to cooperate." Sofia smiled, nodded, and ran off to her room. Arizona turned to see Callie staring at her with one eyebrow raised in question as she asked, "If the water temperature doesn't cooperate?" Arizona took her hand, led her down the hall to their room and explained, "Think about it Callie, she didn't want us to follow her around the craft tables today, she's asking all these questions about things she never thought of before, she's wanting to do things on her own, so I didn't want to say, if you can't get it, or something like that, it would sound defeatist."
Callie stopped in her tracks, she hadn't thought about it like that and was impressed that her wife did. Carefully tugging on Arizona's hand to make her turn, she pulled her into her arms, caressed her face, and whispered, "That is only one of the millions of reasons why I love you." She lowered her head, connected their lips in a soft, sweet kiss, then moved them toward the bedroom as she continued to pepper Arizona's face with kisses, making her giggle all the way. Once they reached the bathroom, Arizona turned on both sides of the shower, normally they only used one, but now that they were home and warm, she still felt the chill in her bones. Turning around, she instantly raised her arms when Callie reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled all of the layers up and over her head in one fell swoop then removed her bra. Finally looking up, she saw that Callie had already removed her own top layers and bra, reached out, tucked her fingers inside the waistband of her jeans and tugged her closer until their naked stomachs crushed together, and leaned in a bit more so their breasts rubbed against each other as well, making them both moan at the sensation. Callie lowered her head and sucked Arizona's bottom lip into her mouth while both of their hands went to work unbuttoning and lowering the other's jeans and underwear. The two stood together for a long moment, embroiled in a deep sensual kiss, while their hands roamed the other's body.
When Callie started to move them into the shower, Arizona broke the kiss and murmured, "Leg." Callie bent down, carefully removed the prosthetic limb, then took great care in helping Arizona into the slick floor of the shower. Stepping under the steaming hot spray, they both groaned in relief and let their heads fall back on their shoulders as the hot water soaked their skin, washing away the chill, the aching muscles, the stickiness of the tree sap, and the sweat from tromping through the snow, all at the same time. After a few moments, Callie lifted her head, wiped her face, and still holding Arizona close with one hand around her back, pumped her wife's favorite shampoo into her hand and started lathering up her hair. Arizona held tightly to Callie's neck with one hand while mimicking Callie's actions and running her hand through jet black hair, scratching her wife's scalp as she massaged the shampoo into a thick lather. After rinsing and conditioning, the two started washing each other and Callie finally broke the intimate silence, murmuring, "I'm sorry we didn't get our bath." Arizona smiled and replied, "I'm not." Callie tilted her head in question and Arizona explained, "I love showers like this. They are just as intimate as our baths. We can take our bath in the morning. We may need it more then." Callie chuckled, knowing just how true that statement was.
While their hands roamed one another's body, teasing and taunting, in the name of 'washing', their lips connected in a long passionate kiss. When it came to it's natural end, Callie rested her forehead on Arizona's and whispered, "We should probably get out, everyone will be back soon." Arizona nodded in agreement and replied, "We should." When neither made a move to exit the shower, they both chuckled and Callie whined, "But I don't want to." Arizona pouted, "Me neither." Both of them sighed, turned to shut off their side of the shower, and they finally stepped out and dried off.
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Once the pizza was delivered, they all sat around the table in their night clothes, which consisted of pajamas for the two kids and sweatpants and t-shirts for the adults. The majority of the conversation was taken up by Henry and Sofia comparing their experiences in the North Pole and what they told Santa they wanted for Christmas. As their lists went on and on and on, both sets of parents eyes grew wider. When the two kids finished with their late dinner, they went into the living room to watch a movie. Addison looked up to make sure they weren't listening and whispered, "How do we get a copy of that list?" Arizona shook her head and laughed while Jake just rolled his eyes. Callie explained, "That's why Arizona sits down with Sofia and writes a letter to Santa every year." Addie nodded her head and asked, "Oh so you make a copy of the letter?" Both women just stared at her blankly and she hissed, "What? I still don't get how you know what they want from Santa if you mail the damn letter." Arizona sighed and whispered, "I don't really mail it." Addie threw up her arms and asked, "Then how the hell do they get a reply?" Callie held her head in her hands, shook her head back and forth and muttered, "Oh, Addie, Addie, Addie." Arizona raised her hand, pointed to it with her other hand and said, "Hello!" Jake watched the interaction, he'd always wondered why his wife was never much for tradition and didn't do the things with Henry that other parents did. He never asked, he just figured she didn't believe in all that. Now he knew she didn't know how. Putting his arm around his wife, he soothed, "We'll figure it out babe." Addison nodded then asked, "Where the hell do we get one of those dwarves?" Arizona corrected, "Elf, Addison. It's a damn elf. You knew what it was this morning."
Callie rubbed Arizona's back to calm her down and tried to hold back her laughter. The irony of this conversation was just too much for her. The woman who never wanted to be a mom, now a little over 4 months pregnant with their second through fourth children, was instructing the woman who always wanted to be a parent on how to give her child a magical Christmas. Deciding this conversation was a little too ridiculous for four adults with their caliber of education and professional status, Callie interjected, "You can get one on Amazon. Order it by tomorrow. We won't start until yours arrives so Henry doesn't feel like he's been overlooked." Then she looked at Jake and asked, "Would you mind helping me get the rest of our things in real quick so I can move Arizona's car? It's supposed to snow again tomorrow." Jake shot her a look of appreciation and quickly left the table to avoid further talk of Santa, elves, dwarves, and letters to nowhere.
Once they left the room, Arizona started cleaning up and Addison asked, "So how are you feeling?" The blonde turned and asked, "Are you inquiring as my doctor or my friend?" The redhead smirked and replied, "As your very amused friend. You know that pepper thing was stupid. Is your stomach okay? Do you need more than that nasty pink shit for heartburn?" Arizona laughed and replied, "That sounded more like a scolding from a doctor. But I think I'm okay for now." The redhead laughed and replied, "For now. I don't want to be around tomorrow when you and Cal are both walking funny and not because of a night of hot sex but because of a case of hot butt." Arizona's face dropped, she hadn't even thought of that aspect and she muttered, "Oh shit!" Addison spit her wine all over the table and answered, "Exactly." The blonde threw a towel at her and commanded, "Shut up and clean up your mess." Just then Callie and Jake walked in from the mudroom carrying all their bags and Callie asked, "Why is there wine everywhere?" Arizona waved her hand at their friend and said, "Addie spit it out. She can't hold her liquor." Callie shook her head and mumbled, "Asshole." Both Arizona and Addie looked at each other and broke into a fit of giggles. Jake looked at Callie and asked, "What did we miss?" The brunette shook her head and answered, "Hard telling with these two."
After cleaning up, showing off their purchases, and talking for a few more minutes, Arizona yawned and Jake suggested, "We should get going." He walked toward the living room to get Henry who was now fast asleep next to Sofia, both of them not getting further than ten minutes into whatever they were watching before they were out for the count. Callie shook her head and offered, "Just leave him here. We'll get them both blankets and pillows and make sure they're tucked in." The man looked at his son admiringly and replied, "If it's not too much trouble. I'd hate to take him out in the cold and risk waking him up again." Arizona was already walking back from the linen closet with blankets and pillows in hand and replied, "It's no trouble at all." She gently tossed a blanket over each of them, bent down and slipped pillows under their heads, and walked back turning off the overhead light. She patted her leg for Tobin to follow her and let him outside before they put him in his crate for the night. Callie hugged Addie, then Jake, and thanked him again for all of his help. They both stood and watched as their friends made their way to the pool house, waited for them to get inside, let Tobin in, then turned off the outside light. Callie took Tobin to his crate while Arizona loaded the dishwasher and they were finally ready to turn in for the night as well.
Once they reached their room, they both shed their sweatpants, brushed their teeth, and Callie waited for Arizona to take off her prosthetic and get situated in bed before sitting down next to her. Arizona propped herself up against the pillows and closed her eyes when she felt Callie's warm hands begin to massage the aching muscles in her residual limb. Callie watched Arizona's facial expressions closely so she knew when to ease up or where to focus her attention. When she saw full pink lips pull back in a grimace, her brows furrowed and she looked down to see where her hands were, then the ortho surgeon's mind came into play as she mapped out the muscles and nerves in her mind, and asked, "Front or back?" Arizona sighed, "Hamstring I think." Callie nodded, lifted the shortened limb to rest on her thigh, turned her hands around and gently worked her thumbs into the tight muscle until she saw Arizona's body relax and felt the tension being released from the area she was working on. Arizona sighed in relief, let her head fall back on the pillow and murmured, "That was it, God that feels so much better, thank you." Callie stood up, kissed her on the forehead and replied, "My pleasure." Before covering her up, Callie asked, "Do you want your wrap?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "No, I think its okay now. Come get into bed, I want to hold you." Callie pulled the covers over her and quickly did as she was told.
Settling into bed, she smiled when she saw that Arizona was now turned toward her waiting for her to cuddle. Scooting as close as she could get, she wrapped her arm around Arizona's waist, slipped her hand under her shirt, and intertwined their legs. Finally feeling settled, they both let out a soft moan and relaxed into each other's arms. Callie tucked her head under Arizona's chin, much like she found herself when she awoke this morning, and whispered, "Except for losing to you in a pepper eating contest, I think this is one of the best days of my life." Arizona giggled and answered, "You know I wouldn't have had a chance if I weren't carrying your babies and they didn't make me crave all the things you like." Callie's brow furrowed as she thought about that, Arizona had been eating pickles which she normally didn't like, peppers which she could never handle, and hot chips which she despised, all things that she, herself loved. Propping herself up on her elbow, she stared down at her wife and asked, "How…what…how is that possible?" Arizona shrugged and replied, "I don't know, the same way Sofia got my dimples and perky personality." Callie kissed her nose, settled back down, thought for a minute and sighed, "Am I weird for feeling really good about all of that?" Arizona ran her fingers through her hair and answered, "No, I love it. Not so much when the heartburn kicks in, but I love that…I don't know, they already have this special bond with you, like the bond Sofia and I have." Callie smiled at that thought, she had her own relationship with Sofia, but she loved the bond that Arizona and Sofia had and could never explain why it felt so different, not until now.
After a few minutes of silence, Arizona observed, "Do you realize how many times one of us has said 'This is one of the best days of my life,' since we've gotten back together?" Callie ran her hand up and down Arizona's back and replied, "No, but we have said it a lot haven't we?" Arizona responded, "We have. I like that too. That in just this short time, we've made so many great memories." Callie kissed her chest and added, "We make each other happy and we will continue to do so and make amazing memories for the rest of our lives." Arizona kissed the top of her head and murmured, "That we will, my love." Callie closed her eyes and sighed, "I love you." Arizona cuddled closer and whispered, "I love you too." Both women drifted off to sleep within a few minutes replaying the events of the day in their minds, brandishing them into their long term memories.
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"How do you spell 'incredible'?" Henry asked as he held his green colored pencil over the piece of paper he was writing on. He and Sofia decided to write their letters while Arizona was making breakfast and they also chose to use red and green colored pencils, swapping colors between each word. Arizona looked up from the biscuit dough she was making and asked, "Can you sound some of it out?" Henry looked up to the ceiling, because the answers were always up there, and said, "In…i-n…cred…c…r…e?" Arizona smiled, "Good job, write that down." The little boy wrote down the letters, then said, "Incredible…dible…d!" He stopped and wrote down a 'd' then Arizona finished for him, "The last part is kind of tricky, it's i-b-l-e." Henry jotted it down and muttered, "Thank you," then continued with his list. Arizona watched as Sofia painstakingly sounded out words in her own head, her lips moving with no sound coming out, then bit her bottom lip as she wrote down the letters, then switched pencils to move on to the next word. She couldn't look more like Callie in that moment if she tried. Finally putting the pan in the oven, Arizona checked on everything else, turned it on low, and went to the coffee pot to pour Callie's coffee when she heard their bedroom door close.
Callie shuffled into the dining room, smiled when she saw Sofia and Henry still in their pj's, hard at work on their letters to Santa, kissed her daughter's head as she walked through the dining room, walked behind the kitchen island and wrapped her arms around Arizona's waist, kissing her neck. Arizona leaned into her, reached her arm up behind Callie's neck, turned her head for a kiss and murmured, "Good morning sleepy head." Callie followed her lips, stole another kiss and returned, "Good morning. What smells so good?" Arizona handed Callie her coffee and answered with a knowing smile, "Hmm, biscuits, sausage, bacon, roasted potatoes. We're having breakfast sandwiches." Callie's eyes brightened and her excited smile bloomed across her face, then she asked, "The crispy roasted potatoes? The ones you dice for me?" Arizona nodded and answered, "The very same. We always end up having what we want for breakfast, so I wanted to make one of your favorite breakfasts today. Before you ask, I made extras for tomorrow." Callie did a little dance, slid herself toward Arizona and whispered, "I have the best wife ever." Arizona kissed her and laughed when she kept trying for more kisses, then finally gave in and connected their lips in a longer, sweeter kiss which was interrupted by, "How do you spell the name of the street?" Both women giggled and Callie nodded toward Arizona's barely touched teacup, then suggested, "Go sit down with your tea and help the kids. I'll finish up." Arizona kissed her cheek, took her cup to the table and sat down to focus on the kids.
While watching the biscuits and cleaning off the countertop, Callie observed Arizona's interactions with Henry and Sofia. She was so patient with them and encouraged them to do as much of the spelling on their own as they could, then she would gently correct them if they got something wrong. She wondered if that was from her many years of working at a teaching hospital or if she was just a natural teacher. Somehow, her mind skipped a few years ahead and she saw her wife and daughter sitting at that very same table helping three little blonde-haired, blue-eyed toddlers write their letters to Santa. She smiled then, her bright mega-watt smile, she could see it as plain as if it were happening in that moment and it made her feel all giddy inside. She was startled from her thoughts when the timer for the biscuits went off and she looked up to see Arizona looking at her quizzically. Without responding, she blew her wife a kiss and bent down to check the biscuits.
Arizona sat at the table and read both letters aloud. She noticed a few spelling and grammar errors, but they were third graders and honestly, the silly pieces of paper that made them both so happy were only going into the memory box for them to see long after they stop believing in Santa. Looking up, she asked, "Is that all you want to put in the letter? You can't think of anything else you want?" Sofia looked at her letter and answered, "I can't think of anything else. I got what I always wanted, you and mama to get married again, more brothers and sisters, and I even got a dog. So I put some toys I don't have yet, but I'm out of ideas." Arizona smiled at her thoughtful daughter, ran her fingers through her hair and replied, "You know, that's always a good thing, to feel like you don't NEED something and I'm proud of you for recognizing that." Sofia smiled then looked up to see her mama staring at them and whispered, "Why is mama looking at us like that?" Arizona turned around and saw Callie smiling at them but noticed she had a far off look in her eyes and wondered where she'd gone. They all jumped when the oven timer went off and the two kids giggled. Arizona looked at Callie a little longer, laughed when she blew her a kiss, then turned to the task at hand and proclaimed, "Okay, if you are both finished, you have to sign your names, then we put them in these special envelopes and I will mail them in the morning." Both kids did as they were told, then helped Arizona clear the table for breakfast.
While Henry was getting ready to go back to his mom and dad, Arizona wrapped up two breakfast sandwiches for him to take with him, and Callie held the door and watched him carefully maneuver the path Jake had shoveled from one house to the other. Seeing that he had gotten in okay, Callie clapped her hands together, looked at her family, smiled excitedly and asked, "Who wants to decorate?" Sofia hopped out of her chair hollering, "Me! I want to decorate. Where do we start?" Arizona laughed and replied, "We start with getting dressed and looking halfway decent because you know we'll be taking lots of pictures of our first Christmas decorating party." Sofia huffed, "Okay, but do I need another shower?" Callie chuckled, "Not a shower, but you need to brush your teeth and hair, change your clothes, and then we can decorate." Sofia decided she could live with that and went to her room to get ready. Callie and Arizona followed her down the hall and went to their own room to get ready for the day.
Once they were all dressed and gathered in the living room, Arizona turned on her Christmas playlist and put Sofia to work opening all of their new decorations and ornaments while she and Callie went through their boxes of old decorations, taking out the ornaments that were special to them, which mainly consisted of those which Sofia made in school or at different events. Arizona pulled out a small round glass ornament with tiny pink footprints along with 'Sofia's first Christmas' and the year on it and Callie gasped, "Where did you get that?" Arizona blushed slightly and replied, "I left the original with you, but I didn't want to not have one, so I had another made." She looked up and saw that Callie had tears in her eyes and asked, "What is it?" Callie shook her head, laughing at herself and answered, "Mine got lost somewhere in all the moves. I just…I'm glad you have one…we have one, to commemorate Sofia's first Christmas." The blonde smiled and replied, "Me too."
They continued to pull out ornaments and Callie picked one up and asked, "Can we hang this?" Arizona was nearly brought to tears when she saw the porcelain heart with a picture of her and Callie wearing Santa hats under the words, 'Our first Christmas' along with the date. Unable to say anything, she just nodded and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Finished with her own task, Sofia started going through the boxes as well and took out an ornament of a skeleton and asked, "Where did you get this one mama?" Arizona looked over and smiled when she saw what her daughter was asking about and replied, "I bought that for mama our first year together." Callie took the little skeleton which she hadn't hung on her tree in years because it hurt too much and put it in the pile with those that would be going on the tree. Arizona reached into her box, took out an ornament that was wrapped in tissue paper and couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. Opening it up, she whispered, "Oh my God." Callie looked over and her breath hitched as she asked, "You kept that?" Arizona nodded and replied, "I most certainly did. I just forgot I had it." Sofia asked, "Can I see?" Arizona passed it over and the little girl stared at it in confusion and declared, "I don't get it." Callie took the snowflake made entirely out of tongue depressors and casting materials and explained, "I made this for mommy one day when we were really slow in the ER." Sofia shook her head and proclaimed, "You guys are weird." Arizona nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah, but you love us." The little girl giggled and shrugged, knowing she was about to be attacked with kisses from both moms and giggled harder when they both dove towards her, smothering her in kisses.
Once everything was all laid out, Sofia asked, "We put the lights on first right?" Callie replied, "That's right. Do we want a lot of lights or just one string?" Both Arizona and Sofia exclaimed, "A lot!" Shaking her head, Callie wondered why she even asked that question and agreed, "A lot it is." Picking up several strands of lights, she tested each one to make sure they worked first. Even if they were brand new, she knew sometimes you got a bad string. Arizona handed her the special power strip they'd bought especially for the tree, and the three of them each took a part of the tree and started wrapping lights around the branches. Callie laughed when she realized Arizona was discreetly going behind Sofia to fix the lights she was placing and laughed even harder when Sofia declared, "This is the first year you let me help with lights," and Arizona muttered under her breath, "There's a reason for that." Hearing Callie snort, Arizona glared at her but couldn't help but smile when she kissed her cheek and whispered, "I don't care if it's a Charlie Brown tree, it's ours and we are here together." Arizona nodded and decided to back off from her type-A perfection and just enjoy this time with her daughter and her wife.
When they got to a point that Sofia could no longer reach, Callie and Arizona finished the job while Sofia bounced around the living room singing jingle bells. After the lights were finished, they pulled over all of the ornaments and started putting them on the tree while dancing around to 'Rocking Around the Christmas Tree'. Sofia looked up to see her mama spin her mommy in a circle when they both went to reach for another ornament and decided she wanted to take pictures too. She picked up her mommy's phone, put in the code which was her birthday, and quickly opened the camera and took a video of her parents dancing around and laughing. When they stopped dancing, they broke into a fit of giggles and she knew the yucky kiss was coming, but decided to take a picture of it for them because they liked that mushy stuff. Just like she figured, mama leaned down and mommy stretched up and they touched their lips together and she hurried and tapped her finger on the red button. She giggled when they both looked up at her in surprise and she took another picture of their shocked faces.
Callie had just brushed her lips against Arizona's when she saw the flash go off in her peripheral vision. Breaking apart in wonder, they both turned and looked in the direction of the flash and were blinded with another flash. When they realized their daughter had been taking pictures of them, Callie started towards her and growled, "Come here you little creeper." Sofia dropped Arizona's phone on the sofa just as Callie scooped her up and started tickling her while Tobin jumped around barking at her. Arizona laughed when Callie turned around and she saw that her daughter's head was hanging upside down, her face was bright red and she was yelling, "Mommy help." Nodding enthusiastically, Arizona quickly went to her wife and started tickling the little girl as well. Sofia started laughing harder and whined, "Not mama, me!" When she started squirming a little more than Callie could handle, she put her on the ground so she wouldn't fall and get hurt or start flailing and kick or hit Arizona. Breathing heavily, Sofia pouted, "That was no fair! It's two against one." Tobin stood at Callie's feet growling at her and she bent down to pick him up and asked, "You don't like that do you? You are such a fierce protector." In response, the dog licked her face making them all laugh and Callie sputtered and immediately put him down.
Arizona looked at her daughter, picked up her phone to look at the pictures, and retorted, "That's what you get." She opened the video, felt Callie walk up behind her and they both smiled as they watched themselves dance around the living room. She then swiped to the photos and had to admit, it was a cute picture. Callie whispered, "Will you send me those please?" Arizona nodded, sent them off, then asked, "How about we get back to work? There's a lot of tree to decorate." They went back to their task, putting up ornaments, singing, dancing, and laughing as the tree began to come to life. Callie handed Sofia the ornament from her first Christmas and declared, "Here you go little miss, this one is yours." The smaller brunette took the delicate ornament, looked at it for a minute, then put it on the tree right in the front so she could see it whenever she wanted to.
Once the tree was all decorated, Callie and Arizona doing the top and middle, leaving the bottom for Sofia, Arizona found the tree topper which was a crystal star with multicolored lights and handed it to Callie. Looking at Sofia, Callie asked, "Hey big girl, how would you like to put the star on top of our first tree?" Sofia's eyes grew wide and she asked, "Really? Can I?" Both women nodded and Callie picked her up in her arms. Arizona showed her what to do and how to fasten it to the top of the tree, then handed it over. She picked up her phone and said, "Okay, go ahead." Callie moved closer to the tree and Arizona snapped a few pictures showing the progression of Sofia putting the star on top of the tree. Once she was finished, Callie went to one of their bags from their trip the day before, took out the ornament that was made from the piece that was cut from the trunk of their tree, walked back to the living room and suggested, "Okay, this is the last one. Let's put it on together." Arizona smiled, put her fingers on the piece of twine, watched as Sofia did the same, and the three hands moved together to put their first family ornament on their tree, front and center.
Once they were finished, they took a little break for hot cocoa and the cookies they bought yesterday while they looked through the rest of their decorations and decided where to put them. Callie took out the frame they purchased in the gift shop, then the photos with Santa and asked, "Which one do we want to put in here?" Arizona looked at both pictures and pursed her lips, it was a tough decision, they could put the other in a regular frame and still display it, but she wasn't sure which one should go where. Apparently, Sofia had made up their minds when she took the picture of all three of them and handed it to Callie saying, "This is my favorite." Callie smiled and replied, "That's my favorite too." She put the picture in the frame, drank the last of her cocoa and suggested, "Let's get back to it." Arizona wrapped the rest of her cookie up, put it back in the bag and laughed when Sofia shoved the rest of hers in her mouth. Callie watched as well and muttered, "Oh boy. Can we say sugar rush?" Sofia looked at both mothers and blushed when she realized what she'd done.
Callie looked at the wreath one more time to make sure it was straight, closed the front door and said, "I think that's it." She laughed when she saw both Arizona and Sofia slouched on the couch in exhaustion. Arizona looked around the house, they'd put lights on the front window, around the patio doors, around the front entryway on the outside, the wreath was on the door, little signs with different Christmas scenes were hung about the house, they'd put a winter themed table cloth on the table, exchanged their regular tea towels and pot holders for Christmas ones and even put a string of lights in Sofia's room. She reached her hand out for Callie to sit next to her and proclaimed, "It looks beautiful." Callie took her hand, intertwined their fingers and agreed, "It looks great." She looked at the clock and asked, "What do you want to do about dinner?" Arizona groaned, "I really don't feel like cooking and I don't want you to either." Callie laughed, "Well, that doesn't help at all." Sofia lay down across both of their laps and asked, "Why don't we do what we always do and get Chinese?" The two women looked at each other and chuckled when they both asked, "You do that too?" Sofia turned over to look at them and asked, "You really didn't know you did the same things?" Arizona looked at Callie then at their daughter and answered, "We knew we did some things the same. We wanted you to have consistency, but we didn't know we did everything the same." Callie put her arm around Arizona and conceded, "It makes sense though, I mean, that's what we did when we were together, so we just…I don't know, never broke those habits." Arizona laid her head on Callie's shoulder and sighed, "Or we never wanted to." Callie nodded in agreement and took out her phone to call in their order for Chinese food.
While waiting for the delivery, Callie brought in the air mattress from the garage, inflated it, and added sheets and blankets to it. Normally they made a bed on the floor, but she knew that wouldn't be comfortable for Arizona and if she were being honest, it was no longer comfortable for her either. While she was doing that, Arizona was searching all of their streaming accounts for their movie. After finding it, she pulled it up and had it waiting for them. Sofia, meanwhile, was in her room talking to her grandparents on the phone since it was Sunday afternoon. Once Callie finished making the bed, she joined Arizona on the couch and lifted her legs onto her lap. Arizona's eyes fluttered closed when Callie started rubbing her right foot and ankle. She smiled when she felt the touch turn from massage to examination and declared, "I'm fine honey. I'm just achy from all the walking in general, but not because of anything with the leg or the pregnancy." Callie blushed, went back to the massage and responded, "I can't get anything past you can I?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "Nope. But that did remind me of something I wanted to talk to you about." Callie's hand stilled on her foot for a moment and Arizona added, "It's nothing bad."
Callie sighed in relief, sometimes those words weren't followed with good news. Arizona kept her eyes closed and recapped her conversation with Nicole on Friday and asked, "So, now that she put it in my head, continuing my research and lecturing, I'm thinking it will be a lot less stressful on my body and really, on my nerves. Even if I'm only consulting or performing certain surgeries, you know how involved we get in our cases. This way, if I needed to stay home some days, I could and it wouldn't be a problem because its research I could do from home and if it's a lecture, I could pre-record it or do it remotely." Arizona took a breath and finally opened her eyes, seeing the thoughtful expression on Callie's face, she asked, "What do you think? What should I tell her?"
Callie thought for a minute, though she didn't need to, she was sold on the idea as soon as Arizona told her about the conversation. Running her hand up Arizona's leg to caress her stomach, Callie answered, "It sounds to me like you really want to do this and honestly, I think it's a great idea. Not just for you and the babies, but also for your research. I mean, when would you ever get the opportunity to dedicate so much time to finish up your research and get the first phase of the project off the ground? This is just as much your baby as these little ones are and it would do so much good, help so many people." Arizona covered the hand on her stomach, tugged on it, and scooted to the edge of the couch. Callie understood what her wife wanted, laid down next to her and brushed their lips together. Arizona asked, "So it's okay with you?" Callie nodded and replied, "It's more than okay and you have my full support. Whatever you need." Arizona turned and brushed their lips together, murmured, "Thank you," then deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue between Callie's lips. Callie whimpered when their tongues touched and felt the electricity flow through her body like it always does whenever she kisses her wife. Somehow though, it seems to be more prevalent, more intense when they so easily discuss something that once would have been a battle that went on for days. Just as she started to snake her hand under Arizona's soft, worn t-shirt, the doorbell rang causing them to break apart. Callie grumbled, "Fuck!" then climbed over a giggling Arizona and went to the door to collect their food.
After eating their dinner and cleaning up after themselves, Sofia ran to the other side of the dining room by the light switch and asked, "Is it time? It's dark out now, can we do it?" Callie walked toward the tree, got into place, nodded for Arizona and Sofia to turn off the lights, waited for them to come into the living room using the light from the television, and asked, "Are you ready?" They both stood next to her and exclaimed, "Yes!" Callie bent down, put the plug into the outlet and they all watched as their first Christmas tree lit up with a rainbow of colors. Sofia jumped up and down and clapped while Arizona and Callie stood behind her with their arms wrapped around each other. Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder and Callie rested her head on Arizona's and reached for her hand with her free hand. Bringing the small pale hand to her lips, Callie kissed Arizona's knuckles then lowered their hands, holding them between them over their hearts.
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Sofia giggled when Ralphie opened his pink bunny pajamas and Callie and Arizona who were lying on either side of her looked at one another and started laughing as they recalled which scene was coming up next. Sofia looked at her moms and asked, "Why does he talk like that when she puts the present on his lap?" Callie laughed even harder when she heard the line 'it's a blue ball' and Arizona tried to hold her laughter in and explained, "I think it was just a little heavier than he was expecting is all sweetie." Fortunately she was distracted when Ralphie came back down the stairs in his pink bunny pajamas. Her giggles were infectious and caused the two women to break into another fit of giggles as well. As they neared the end of the movie, Arizona heard both phones vibrate and looked at Callie in confusion. Choosing to ignore it, she shrugged and kept her attention on the television. Just as they showed the parents coming down the stairs Christmas night, they felt a gust of cold air and heard, "Jesus, did Santa Claus throw up in here?" Without looking up from the television, they all said, "Shhh, it's almost over." The redhead stomped the snow off her feet, took off her coat and walked into the living room to see where the voices were coming from.
Addison sat on the sofa behind her friends and though every sarcastic bone in her body wanted to say something snarky, the teeny tiny emotional side of her was extremely happy to be a witness to the scene before her. She and their entire friend group knew these two would someday find their way back together. The only people who didn't know were the two stubborn women themselves. She considered herself fortunate to have been able to see them grow together as a family the second time around and be a part of their milestones. This was one of them, she knew. It always pained her to talk to one or the other around the holidays because they were so sad and lonely, no matter if they were with someone or not. It took everything she had not to yell at them and tell them to just admit the truth to themselves and each other. But this, as disgusting as it was, was the cutest thing she'd ever seen and she was happy the little family made it through. When the credits finally started rolling, Addison cleared her throat and asked, "May I speak now?"
Callie and Arizona sat up, looked at their friend and Arizona asked, "What's up?" Addison laughed and inquired, "Have you two even looked outside?" They furrowed their brows then both stood up and went to the front window. Arizona gasped and Callie muttered, "It's really coming down." Addison nodded and informed them, "I came to see if Sofia wanted to spend the night." Sofia tilted her head and replied, "I can't, I have school tomorrow." Addie grinned and answered, "Not tomorrow big girl, it's a snow day." Sofia's eyes widened and she snapped her head around to look at her parents and asked, "That's a thing? They cancel school for snow?" Callie laughed and answered, "They do when there is a lot of snow and it's not safe for buses or cars." The blonde asked, "Is that why our phones were buzzing?" Addie nodded and replied, "Yeah, it was an alert from the school. So we figured instead of waking her up in the morning, she could stay with us and I'd just ride in with the two of you." Callie and Arizona looked at one another, holding their silent conversation, and Arizona replied, "It's fine with us and thank you for thinking of that." Addie looked to Sofia and ordered, "Don't just sit there, go pack a bag and don't forget your toothbrush." When the little girl ran off to her room, Addie looked at the two women and asked, "No seriously, did the North Pole explode in your house?"
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Callie turned off the bathroom lights and made her way to the tub which was lit with the muted blue lighting. Stepping in behind Arizona, she sank down into the water and sighed heavily as all the muscles in her body started to relax. Feeling the heat of the water, she asked, "Did you check the temperature?" Arizona chuckled and answered, "Yes, it's 99 degrees and the warmer is on to keep it that way so we don't need to add more hot water." Callie smiled, she knew she was being overly protective, but these were the little things she worried about. Once she was situated, she guided Arizona backward to lean against her and wrapped her arms around her middle, splaying her hands across the taut skin of her abdomen. Arizona scooted backward a little more, letting out a soft whimper when she felt the small patch of hair above Callie's sex brush against her lower back.
Fully relaxed now, Arizona lay her head on Callie's shoulder and dropped her hands to rest on the sides of strong muscular thighs. Callie caressed Arizona's belly and admitted, "I was staring today because I was picturing you and Sofia sitting at the table with these three adorable little toddlers who looked just like you, helping them write their letters to Santa." Arizona hummed in response and smiled softly when the image popped into her own mind, then revealed, "I do that a lot. I watch you doing something with Sofia and picture the trips around you listening intently or trying to wrestle you to the ground." Callie laughed and answered, "Oh the last part for sure." They both laughed and there was a comfortable silence for a few moments while each of them pictured the other with their new additions.
Arizona covered Callie's hands on her stomach and asked, "Does it ever scare you? The idea of raising boys?" Callie sighed, almost in relief and stated, "All the damn time. I mean most of the stuff we can do the same, it's the physical part that scares me, like changing diapers and teaching them how to pee standing up and…" Arizona laughed and answered, "Okay good, I thought I was alone there." Callie kissed the side of her head and answered, "Nope, not at all." After another long silence, Arizona asked, "Can we still use Lorraine as a middle name? It's even more important to me now, knowing how much of a role your…well, our Lorraine played in your healing." Callie pulled her head back and Arizona turned to look at her, wondering what she was thinking and saw the tears glistening in her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was because of what she just said or because she was asking about baby names. When she received no answer, she figured maybe Callie wasn't ready and started, "We don't…we don't have to talk about…" She was cut off with soft lips pressing against hers and could taste the saltiness of her wife's tears.
Pulling back, Arizona wiped the tears from soft caramel cheeks and asked, "What's this for?" Callie shook her head and answered, "I'm not sure. I mean, I'm really touched that you said that…about Lorraine and I'd love to use that as a middle name, or even a first name if you want. I think, I think it just got so real all of a sudden. We've talked about talking about names, but until you said one out loud, I didn't…we need names Arizona!" The blonde laughed and replied, "We do and we need to decide something else too." Callie tilted her head in question and Arizona asked, "Well, do you want their names to be of Hispanic origin or at least a first or middle name for each?" Callie pursed her lips and thought about it for a minute, she understood and appreciated why her wife was asking, then replied, "I mean, I don't think we necessarily have to give them a Hispanic name, if something pops on our radar that we like, then we can use it, but their last name is Robbins-Torres and that's enough to let me know they are mine." Arizona leaned in, kissed her softly and rested her head back against her chest. Callie then asked, "Since you asked that question about Lorraine, can one of the boys have the name Timothy or James as a first or middle?" Arizona's breath hitched and this time it was she who had the tears running down her cheeks. Swallowing thickly, she turned so she could look at Callie once again.
Callie became alarmed when she saw Arizona's tears, though she understood why they were there. A tiny part of her was afraid that she would be shut down or shut out and this would be the end of the conversation. She started to take it back when Arizona explained, "I um, I've thought about that. I was going to mention it, but I keep hesitating. We know the odds of these babies having blonde hair and blue eyes is extremely high, and I just…naming one of them Timothy, it's selfish, or maybe not, but I don't think I could do that and I think it would be really hard for my parents and for me to look at him every day and not see Timmy. But I like the idea of James for a middle name, if that's okay. That way, it pretty much honors my brother, my dad, and my grandfather." Callie let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and answered, "I didn't think of that honey, I'm sorry. I love the middle name James." Arizona brushed their lips together and asked, "Did you want the other to be Carlos or Charles?" Callie tilted her head and asked, "Can we put that one on the maybe list?" The blonde nodded and settled herself back into place.
After throwing out a few more names, Callie asked, "What would you think about naming them all after people who are important to us? It doesn't have to be their exact name, but something that…I don't know symbolizes that person." Arizona nodded right away and replied, "I was thinking the same thing." She broke into a fit of giggles and Callie just stared at her and asked, "What?" Arizona waved her hands in front of her face to calm down and responded, "It's horrible." Callie chuckled then and asked, "What is it?" Arizona laughed, "We could name one of them Sarcastic Bitch and that pretty much covers half the people we know." Callie laughed and scolded, "Arizona!" The blonde shrugged and replied, "You're laughing, you know it's funny." Callie just shook her head and they continued to toss names around until they were happy with three first and three middle, then Callie asked, "Are we sharing or no?" Arizona smirked and replied, "Nope." Callie laughed and pulled her closer, murmuring against her lips, "You are so bad." Arizona deepened the kiss, broke it before it became too heated, but kept their lips touching and moved her left hand so it slipped between Callie's legs and whispered, "Be bad with me." Callie groaned as she felt the soft hand on her sex and her only response was to return the favor.
A/N: No, you don't get to know the names, but I threw you a bone. Thank you all for the great reviews. Happy Sunday.