"What? Oh no! I can't deliver a baby…She's my best friend…I, un unh…no, no, no!" Kim's voice rang out through the speaker of Arizona's phone in a high pitched tone, which clearly relayed her panic. Callie and Addison looked at one another, then the redhead glared at the blonde and hissed, "You need to calm her down." Arizona tilted her head and whisper yelled, "Ya think?" Knowing she did, indeed, need to get the teenager to settle down and quickly, Arizona spoke softly and cajoled, "Kim sweetheart, I need you to listen…" She was cut off by Nicole's harsh and surprising revelation, "Oh come on, it's not like you haven't seen it all before." Addison's jaw dropped, Arizona mouthed, "Oh my God", and Callie exclaimed, none too softly, "I knew it!" Both fetal surgeons glared at her and she opened her eyes wider, pursed her lips and pointed to the phone, where there was now an entirely different drama playing out. Julie shrieked, "How did you know?" while Kim denied, "We haven't…" and Nicole retorted with, "I'm blind, not deaf." Arizona pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes, and commanded, "Okay, enough! Kim, get Julie into her bed, remove any clothing from the waist down, then get her laptop set up and wait for Addison to skype you." She turned to the redhead who nodded and went into the office to set up Arizona's laptop for the call.
Callie looked on as her wife slowly paced the living room, one hand holding the phone in front of her, while the other moved in slow circles over her rounded abdomen. She knew there were at least fifty different things going on at once in the fetal surgeon's head, but from the outside, she looked as if she were just casually walking around the house talking on the phone. Stopping to look at the lights on the tree, Arizona took a deep calming breath and considered the next steps to prepare for labor and delivery, while simultaneously developing directions Kim could easily follow throughout the process. She made a mental list of what they would use in the hospital and which household items could replace them. She also went through every step of bringing a child into the world, what could go wrong, how they could correct it, and how to prepare the two young girls for the miracle of birth, which could also be the scariest thing one would ever experience if it wasn't handled properly. Exhaling slowly, she turned, looked into encouraging brown eyes, watched as her wife mouthed, "You got this," smiled, blew her a kiss, did her signature head nod, which meant she was ready to face whatever was thrown at her, and turned her attention back to the call.
Deciding her first step was to figure out exactly what medical supplies they had available, Arizona directed, "Nicole, I need you to go through the medical bag and tell me everything that is in there." The older woman snapped, "It's your usual OB kit Robbins, you know what's in it." Arizona sighed and as patiently as she possibly could, reminded her mentor, "I have to know what we have and what we need to compensate for. You know this." Nicole argued, "How the hell am I supposed to tell you that if I can't…" Frustrated with Nicole's recent lack of interest or complete avoidance of all things related to the actual practice of medicine, Arizona sternly scolded, "Dr. Nicole Herman, you listen to me and you listen good. I don't know what the hell is going on with you lately, but you need to pull your shit together. You lost your sight, your ability to practice medicine, but you did not lose your memory nor your skills to do so. When you came to me in Seattle with the idea for this center, you went through each drawer of my crash cart and named every last item, down to the specific medications, using just your hands and medical knowledge. Surely you can do the same thing now with your own damn med kit. Quit using your blindness as a copout and do what you do best, be the Nicole Herman who used to ride my ass and give me hell for hesitating too long to answer a question. Now reach your hand in that bag and tell me what the fuck I have to work with because this baby is coming with or without your help!"
Arizona waited to get bitched at, almost hoped she would, at this point. She was certain her mentor was losing her nerve, since it had been so long since she practiced medicine, and she was determined not to let that happen. When she heard nothing but complete silence on the other end of the line, Arizona looked up to see both Callie and Addison staring at her in utter shock, and opened her mouth to apologize, until she heard a snort of laughter followed by, "I KNEW I picked the right horse." Arizona blew out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, growled into the phone, and Nicole continued, "I needed that Robbins, but if you ever talk to me like that again…" Arizona cut her off and finished, "You'll listen because you know I'm right and I wouldn't say it if it weren't true." Nicole snorted again and replied, "Let's get this show on the road then." The blonde turned and tried not to laugh when she heard Addison whisper, "Anybody else would have been dead by now." Callie nodded and returned, "Mmhmm, I sure as hell wouldn't talk to her like that."
They all moved into the office and listened while Nicole pulled each item from her bag and called out the usual contents, "Stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, gauze, bandages, sterile pads, gloves, this feels like…um…clamps…the plastic ones for clamping the cord, scissors, a small rectangular box which I am assuming contains a scalpel and suture kit, some draping, and there are some syringes and a few vials of medication here, I've only used this for OB, so I'm guessing it's Lidocaine." Arizona agreed, "I'm sure that's what it is, I can take a look at it once Kim sets up the laptop." Just then, another scream could be heard from the other room and Nicole nervously asked, "How far apart?" Arizona looked at the clock and answered, "About fifteen minutes. When did this start?" Nicole was quiet for a moment and replied, "She'd been feeling off all day but never complained of any pain. About an hour ago, she said she needed a drink or something to help with her indigestion and upset stomach, got halfway to the kitchen, let out a scream and I heard it, that unmistakable sound, like sticking a pin in a water balloon, followed by water dripping onto the floor, then I called you." Arizona drolly replied, "What a time to have a baby." Nicole informed her, "We called 911 and they suggested we call her OB because they couldn't give us an ETA." Arizona huffed in frustration and suggested, "Well, I guess it's just us then, let's see what's going on."
Once Kim got Julie situated in the bed, then Nicole in her office chair, and the laptop set up, Arizona directed, "Kim, we are still in early stages, so I'm going to need you to gather a few things. Can you do that for me?" Kim, who was now sitting by the side of the bed holding Julie's hand, dabbed the sweat from her forehead with a cloth, looked up to the computer, and replied, "Anything she needs." All three women watched the interaction and Addie muttered, "How the hell did we miss that?" Arizona whispered, "I have no idea, it's so obvious." Callie gloated, "I was almost certain, Kim's so protective of her. I just thought it was only one way though." Arizona glared at her wife, muttered, "You couldn't share these thoughts?" then cleared her throat, focused back on the screen and suggested, "Okay, first, and I should have thought of this before, we need a plastic sheet or vinyl shower curtain, something to protect the mattress with. You'll need to tuck it underneath Julie's bottom half and cover it with a clean sheet, preferably an older one." Nicole chimed in, "There's an extra shower curtain and some sheets in the linen closet by the bathroom and before you ask, yes I have extra shower curtains because when you feel yourself falling, you reach out and grab whatever you can." Arizona knew that was hard for her mentor to admit and responded with, "Ain't that the truth." Picking up on what her wife was doing, Callie sent her a quick wink, because she knew that admission wasn't easy for her either.
Arizona continued, "Then I'll need you to gather some clean towels, a baby blanket, one that has already been washed as we suggested, the bassinet, and if there's a heating pad, we need that as well. You'll have to wrap it in a towel, turn it on to the lowest setting, and put it in the bottom of the bassinet once the baby arrives, we also need…" She trailed off, looked at Addison to see if she were forgetting anything and the redhead added, "A bathroom scale to weigh the baby and there are a few other things we will need to clean him up, but we will get to that once he is here." Kim nodded and started to leave the room when all three fetal surgeons called out, "And a plastic tub and garbage bag." Julie's heart dropped as her mind immediately went to the worst possible scenario, looked at the screen worriedly and asked, "Is that for…is that if he…" Arizona was quick to reassure her, "No sweetheart, that's to catch the placenta. After we make sure it's intact, we will have her put it in the garbage bag, take it to the center and have Max or Dr. Yost look at it again."
Julie sighed in relief, started to relax back into the pillows, then let out another cry of pain as she clutched her protruding stomach. Arizona calmly directed, "Listen to me, deep breath in through your nose, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, okay now exhale through your mouth, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Keep doing that until the pain passes." Once she could talk again, Julie cried, "God, it hurts so bad! How much longer?" Nicole scooted closer to the bed, put her gloves on, and Arizona explained, "Nicole is going to examine you and check for a couple of things. First, she will check the opening of the cervix, where the baby will come out, and tell me how much it has opened. This lets us know how close you are to pushing. After that, she is going to see how much your cervix has effaced, that means how much it has thinned out so the baby can come out nice and easy." Nicole put her hand on the young girl's leg and teased, "Now don't think I'm feeling you up, I just need to guide myself up there, you don't want me to check your navel or something." Julie let out a short laugh and retorted, "Oh, I heard all about the time you spent with Dr. Robbins in the attendings lounge, but as you so graciously pointed out, I already have a girlfriend, so no funny stuff." While the three fetal surgeons laughed at the sarcastic quip, a set of brown eyes glared into blue and Arizona accused, "You WERE jealous! I knew it." She then shook her head and reassured her wife, "It was nothing like that. It did become an inside joke between us because of the rumors though." While still attending to her task, Nicole retorted, "It wasn't me you had to worry about it was that resident, what's her face, Wilson, who walked in on Robbins in the shower." Arizona slapped her forehead, knowing Nicole was trying to get Callie going, and demanded, "Just do your damn job and tell me the measurements."
Turning around, Arizona noticed Callie holding her phone, scrolling through her contacts and asked, "What are you doing?" The brunette looked up and replied, "Calling Jo, I knew there was a reason she didn't come to our wedding, she…" Arizona snatched the phone from her wife and soothed, "Calliope, I lived at the frat house, you've lived there, everyone has seen everyone naked at least once. She walked into the bathroom while I was getting in the shower, that's all it was." Addison smirked at the ridiculousness of the argument and redirected, "Can we focus here?" Still irritated at finding out someone they knew saw Arizona naked, Callie grumbled, "I'm going to make coffee." When she started to walk away, Arizona grabbed her wrist, pulled her into her, cupped the back of her neck, drew her head down so their lips almost touched and murmured, "I was still so in love with my wife, nothing else mattered Calliope." She then connected their lips in a long sexy kiss which left no question in Callie's mind about anything other than when she would be able to kiss her wife like that again." Pulling back, the brunette smiled, and whispered, "Sorry, I just…" Arizona popped her dimples and returned, "I get it, I felt the same way. Now go make that coffee, it's going to be a long night and could I have some tea please?" Callie nodded and headed into the kitchen.
When Arizona returned to Addie's side, the redhead muttered, "You know you have her whipped don't you?" The blonde shrugged and replied, "Feeling's mutual. Where are we at?" Addison returned, "She's still fumbling around down there." Arizona chuckled and asked, "What's going on Nicole?" The former fetal surgeon lifted her head and declared, "It's been a while, but I'd say she's at 6 centimeters dilation and 70 percent effacement." Julie asked, "What does that mean…Oh God…" and Arizona reminded her, "Breathe in through your nose…good." Arizona replied, "It depends on how far apart your contractions are and how long they last. I need to warn you, they are coming pretty steadily and if they keep going like this, it could only be a couple more hours. If they stall, it could be several hours." Julie groaned, unsure which she preferred. The pain was worse than she ever could have imagined, but the thought of being a mother terrified her.
Addison had timed the contraction, waited for Arizona to finish talking to Julie, and whispered, "Sixty seconds at twelve minutes apart." Arizona exhaled loudly and inferred, "Which means she won't be at 6 centimeters for long." Stepping away from the computer so they couldn't be heard, Arizona suggested, "We need to see what is going on for ourselves. It's not that I don't trust Nicole…" Addison finished, "She doesn't trust herself right now. I get it, do what you need to do." The blonde nodded, waited until she saw Kim again and called the girl over to the screen. Holding up her phone, Arizona suggested, "I'd like to get a closer look myself; can you facetime me then put the phone down between Julie's legs? I'll tell you where and when to move the phone." Kim's face turned white and hearing no response, Nicole added, "You gotta do it kid, I can only tell so much and if you look, you won't really know how to explain it." The girl nodded and asked, "Can I um…check with Julie?" She didn't need to though, as Julie was listening the whole time and grumpily replied, "Just do what needs to be done to make sure Nicholas is okay."
Kim used her phone to facetime Arizona, who was guiding the girl to move the device to the left and up a little, while Addison was looking over her shoulder. When Callie walked in, she put the drinks on the desk, walked up behind Arizona, and asked, "What are we looking…Oh boy…" then quickly backed away and grabbed her coffee. "There, stop there!" Arizona called out, tapped on her screen to take a screen shot, then opened her measurement app and confirmed, "Okay, she's closer to 7 centimeters, you can hang up now Kim." Kim disconnected the call, blushed while she cleaned it off with an anti-bacterial wipe, then took her place by Julie's side again and asked, "Do you need anything?" Julie hissed, "I need this baby to come out!" Seemingly unphased, the other girl exclaimed, "Ice chips, she can have ice chips right?" Both Addison and Arizona laughed and agreed, "Yes, she can have ice chips." Kim bounced out of the room once again and Nicole asked what they were all thinking, "If you two are together, how the hell did this happen?" She waved her hand around, as if anyone needed an example of what she meant.
Kim walked back into the room, handed over the ice chips, took Julie's hand once again, then Julie looked at her lovingly, and explained, "From the very first day I arrived at the home, we just…I don't know, we clicked. Both of us thought it was because we lost our parents and just had that in common. She showed me the way around and protected me from the other kids who saw me as an easy target. I never really dated before my parents um…I was always involved in sports and other stuff that took up my time and Kim, she was always a loner. We just kept getting closer and closer and the other assholes started calling us dykes and making rude comments and I didn't handle it well. I'd never…I really never thought about it until then, I was raised going to church and being told it was wrong, once they brought it up though, I couldn't not think about it. One night, I snuck out of the home, slipped into a bar and hooked up with a random guy, like I needed to prove something to myself. Of course I told Kim about it, and even then, even when we found out I was pregnant, she stuck by me. She was hurt and mad and she didn't know why either. Finally, we talked it out and that's when we realized that we liked each other, more than like, and well, when we met Dr. Robbins and Dr. Torres, we realized that it was okay to have feelings for each other, it wasn't a bad thing." Addison watched while Callie and Arizona looked at one another, reached for each other's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. The stories weren't exactly the same, but they were close enough that the two women understood how the girls felt. Then they laughed as Nicole muttered, "And apparently what they say about hormones in the second and third trimester is true. Prepare yourself Torres." Callie smirked at Arizona and revealed, "Oh, I'm well aware. But thanks for the heads up." Arizona playfully slapped her wife and scolded, "Calliope!" Everyone laughed until Julie's laughter turned into a gasp of pain, drawing all their attention back to her.
Addison timed the contraction, looked at the clock and commented, "This one felt closer. We need to start recording the times." Callie went to her desk, pulled out a tablet and pen and offered, "I can do that. I feel useless." Arizona turned to her, rubbed her own stomach and assured, "Oh don't worry, your time will come." Callie's face lit up with her mega-watt smile, just thinking about the day her wife would go into labor, then hearing the normally soft spoken girl bark at her girlfriend, briefly wondered what kind of beast the blonde would turn into while giving birth to three babies. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Callie settled into her office chair, deciding she could hear just fine from where she was, and secretly worked on her plan for Arizona's Christmas present. Her first task was to send out a series of emails.
Completely unaware of what Callie was doing, Addison and Arizona walked Kim and Julie through the stages of labor with Nicole's unsolicited sarcastic comments. Arizona explained, "You are currently reaching the end of early labor, that's when the water breaks and your cervix is dilating to six centimeters. Your contractions are still too far apart to be considered active labor, but they are growing closer and lasting a little longer. When they become about five minutes apart consistently, the pain is going to get worse and your contractions will last longer. We will check your cervix again whenever the time interval between them changes. What we are looking for is 10 centimeters dilation and 100 percent effacement. That means it's time to push." Nicole added, "Like a watermelon through a keyhole, no big deal." Arizona looked at Addison and declared, "Under no uncertain terms is she to be anywhere near me while I'm giving birth." The redhead laughed and replied, "Understood." Having heard the comment, Nicole retorted, "Seriously? I thought I had a great bedside manner." Arizona glared at the screen even though she knew she couldn't be seen and replied, "Nope, not even in the hospital at the time!" The older woman chuckled, loving the fact that she could still get her protégé hyped up.
After about an hour, with very little change and a lot of impatient grumbling from Julie and Nicole, the teenager let out a long wail, followed by a string of cuss words, including one not so nice one at Kim when she tried to remind her to breathe. Callie looked at the clock, wrote down the time, waited until the contraction subsided, then whispered, "Seven minutes, lasted eighty seconds." Addison and Arizona looked at each other knowingly and Addison suggested, "Okay Herman, time to check again." Arizona called Kim via facetime and instructed her to follow Nicole's movements with the phone. When she saw her mentor spread her fingers, she took another screen shot, measured it, and at the same time, both the former and current fetal surgeons called out, "Nine centimeters." Julie squealed, "Nine? That's close, that's really close, what do I…ahhhhhhh!" Kim dropped the phone on Nicole's hand, still connected, and ran to Julie's side, coaching, "I know it hurts, look at me, breathe with me." Julie turned her head, did as she was told, and panted her way through the contraction." Callie looked at the clock and called out, "Five minutes since the last one, eighty seconds again." Arizona nodded and whispered to Addie, "It's almost time, are you ready?" Addison snorted and asked, "The real question is, are they ready?"
Arizona looked at the computer screen, saw her mentor doing her best to keep calm, though tell-tale signs of her concern were showing clearly, as she bounced her leg up and down and bit her bottom lip. The two girls were cuddled together, Kim wiping Julie's forehead whispering something to her that made her smile, and Julie was starting to tense up, preparing for another contraction. Jumping into action, Arizona saw that her phone was still connected to face time and she was staring at the ceiling, and asked, "Kim, do you have some sort of stand or pop socket on your phone?" Kim looked around for her phone, realized where she had dropped it, stood up to retrieve it and answered, "The case has a stand on it." Arizona replied, "Okay good, we are getting close. I need you and Nicole to switch places now. Nicole can coach Julie through her breathing, but I need you down by Julie's legs and position your phone so I can see what's going on. Addison will be watching from above and I'll be watching from below." Kim looked at the laptop and asked, "Dr. Herman can't do this part?" Before Arizona could reply, Nicole responded with a soft, gentle tone, unlike any either surgeon had ever heard come from the other woman's mouth, "No honey, I can't. I mean, I could, but that wouldn't be what is best for Julie or Nicholas. We need your eyes down there in case he isn't coming out the right way or in case the cord is where it shouldn't be or any other number of things that could happen. You have the top three fetal surgeons in the country right here to guide you." Kim nodded, helped Nicole move to the seat she had been occupying, then took her place at the foot of the bed.
In the midst of the moving around, Julie had another contraction, Callie timed it, called out the time, then moved back to Arizona's laptop to watch with Addison. Arizona directed Kim, "Okay, set up your phone between Julie's legs, back a little, to your right, tilt it up, good, now prop it up with the stand. Next, you need to lay out the clamps and scissors on the bed near her feet. They should all be in sterile packaging, keep them closed until you need them after the baby is born. Now, change your shirt into a freshly laundered shirt, take the gloves, go wash your hands with water as hot as you can stand it, use the anti-bacterial soap from the med kit, and sing your favorite song while you wash. Don't stop washing until you get to the end of the song, dry your hands with a clean towel, then put the gloves on right away and don't touch anything." Kim nodded, left to do as she was told and they all watched while Julie started to have another contraction and Nicole quickly moved from the chair onto the bed, wrapped her arm around one shoulder, and showed her how to breathe during active labor. They listened as she explained what was about to happen and told her she had to listen to everything Arizona and Addison said.
Arizona and Addison both muted their devices at the same time and Addison proclaimed, "I think that right there explains why she's been so freaked out and unfocused." Arizona nodded and answered, "She hasn't been acting like a surgeon, she's been acting like a mother." Callie and Addison both looked at Arizona and accused, "This is all your fault!" Arizona smiled brightly, looked at the screen again, watched Nicole hand Julie a cloth to wipe the tears from her eyes, and quoted her favorite Christmas book, "And what happened then? The grinch's heart grew three sizes that day." All three of them burst into laughter, turned the volume back on, and Arizona called out, "Kim, I need you to hurry." Nicole's eyes darted around the room and she asked frantically, "Why? What's happening?" Arizona calmly replied, "The contractions are getting closer and if I'm not mistaken, I see a head." Just then Kim rushed through the door and screamed, "You see a what now?" Arizona soothed, "Kim, go to the end of the bed, settle between Julie's legs, and listen to everything I tell you. Addison and Nicole will be telling Julie what to do. Ignore them and focus on me." Kim took her place as she was told, looked directly in front of her, and asked, "That, there, is that it?" Arizona smiled and replied, "That's it." Kim took a deep breath and gasped, "Oh God, I can't do this."
Arizona knew it was only nerves and once they got started, the teenager would be too preoccupied to be scared, or she hoped that would be the case. Still speaking calmly, she commanded, "You can do this. We can do this." Kim asked, "Have you ever done this before? Over the phone?" At Arizona's hesitation, Callie and Addison both looked at the blonde, who in that moment seemed a million miles away, and waited for her answer. Though she was sure her friend didn't see it, Callie couldn't miss the sadness that filled her wife's eyes and wondered if something bad happened the last time. Arizona's mind instantly took her back to that day, to the day that she both helped bring a child into the world and gave her own child up to make her ex-wife happy. Shaking her head, she replied, "I did, in fact, in much worse conditions than these. There was a rainstorm and my best friend, April, went into labor at Meredith's house, right on her dining room table and the only person to help her was Miranda's husband with kitchen knives and dish cloths…" She was cut off from the memory by another painful cry and while she heard Addison and Nicole coaching Julie, she watched the baby's head move even closer to the entrance, looked up at Addison, and declared, "She needs to push on the next one." Addie nodded and started talking Julie through what would happen next, while Callie kept her focus locked on her wife, noticing the sadness hadn't yet fully left her gorgeous eyes and wondered yet again, what put it there. She knew April's labor was difficult, but both mother and baby were just fine. Knowing now was not the time to ask, she made a mental note to ask later and was relieved when the sadness disappeared and Arizona focused on Julie once again.
"Julie, when the next contraction comes, I'm going to need you to reach down, grab the backs of your thighs and pull them up as high as you can. Kim, when I tell you to, you will need to take your forefingers and stretch the skin around the baby's head to help him come out." The look on Kim's face was almost comical and all she could do was let out a squeak, which prompted Nicole to tease, "Don't be shy now. It's not like you haven't had your hand down there before while she was screaming." Addison, Callie, and Arizona all scolded, "Nicole!" Callie shook her head and reaffirmed, "She will be NOWHERE in the vicinity of the hospital during the entire month of March." Arizona smiled at her wife and nodded in agreement.
When the next contraction started, Addison directed, "Okay, push until Arizona says stop." Arizona stated, "Okay Kim, put your fingers at the top, push just the tips in and slowly move them down on both sides, keep going until this contraction ends." She watched as the head slowly appeared, the cries died down, and called out, "Stop! Okay Julie, take a few breaths. We are going to push only through contractions until the head is out, then you will have to push whenever we tell you to." Julie could only nod her head in response. Callie sat on the edge of Arizona's desk, positioned where she could see both devices, then looked up at her wife who appeared to be calm and confident even in such a high stress situation. She had never seen Arizona bring a baby into the world through natural childbirth. Thus far, she'd only seen her perform C-sections and though that had her in awe, this was just…miraculous. The way in which Arizona commanded the entire room, how even the other two highly skilled fetal surgeons clearly deferred to her, reminded her once more just how talented and knowledgeable her wife was, how right this specialty was for her and she for it.
As the contractions continued, by the end of the third round of pushing, Nicolas' head finally emerged. Addison told Julie to stop pushing and Arizona asked Kim to move the phone as close as she could. While directing the girl where and how to move the phone, Arizona explained, "I'm looking for the umbilical cord, we want to make sure it's not wrapped around his neck and doesn't become wrapped around him when you pull him out." Kim stammered, "Wh-wh-when I…when I pull him out?" Arizona replied, "Yes, sweetie, Julie will be doing most of the work, but when we say push, you will need to grab him gently under his chin and the back of his head and pull as she pushes. Now rotate the phone around one more time. Okay, right there, the top right side, Julie's left, do you see a little piece of grey sticking out?" Kim looked closer and answered, "Yeah, yeah, I see it." Arizona directed, "Using just your pinky finger, slip it underneath, pull it out carefully, and lift it over the baby's head." Kim took a deep breath, hooked her finger underneath the cord, gently pulled it over the baby's head, then listened while Arizona explained, "Okay, here we go. Julie, you need to push as hard as you can and keep pushing until we tell you to stop. Kim, on three, Addie will tell Julie to push, and you start guiding the baby's head out. Don't twist or turn, just gently tug." Kim replied, "Okay, I'm ready." Arizona laughed and directed, "You need to put the phone down, put it back where it was." Kim chuckled and answered, "Right. Okay."
Once the phone was back in place, Arizona looked up at Addison, gave her the nod, and Addie counted, "1, 2, 3, PUSH. That's it keep pushing. Good girl. Push, push, push!" Arizona guided, "Okay, pull, gently now…a little harder…you should feel him start coming, good, move your hands under his little arms and give one last tug." They all watched as the baby slid out and a collective sigh of relief was heard throughout both rooms. Kim asked, "Why isn't he crying?" Arizona looked at her screen and suggested, "Turn him over, and…" She sank down into her chair in relief when the baby boy let out a loud wail and started moving his arms and legs around. Exhaling slowly, she directed, "Callie, please record time of birth as…" She looked up to the clock and announced, "3:24 am, December 7th…" She looked at Callie who was already staring at her in disbelief and Addison asked, "Wasn't that…" Kim and Julie both asked, "What? What is it?" Arizona explained, "December 7th was the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and my grandfather who served on the USS Arizona died that day after saving 19 men." Julie looked at the screen and asked, "So you were named in honor of your grandfather?" Arizona smiled proudly and nodded, "I was." Julie held out her arms for her son and declared, "Then you came at exactly the right time Nicholas Calvin Robert. You were sent here to make this day special." Arizona wiped the tears from her eyes and noticed Callie and Addie doing the same, then replied, "That he did." Callie moved to her wife's side and whispered so only she could hear, "Looks like you just brought another good man in a storm into the world honey." Arizona turned to look at her, the tears flowing harder now, and buried her head into her chest, giving herself just a moment to calm down. Sniffling, she stood back, whispered, "Thank you," and returned her attention to the phone.
Arizona looked at Kim and stated, "Now it's time to cut the cord. You need to open the packages at the end of the bed and clamp the cord in two places. The first one should be about three inches from Nicholas' body, then the other about two inches further from that toward Julie. You will make the cut between them with the scissors." Kim clamped both parts of the cord, held the scissors in place for a moment, looked at Julie, they both nodded, and the teenager walked up beside Nicole, put the scissors in her hand, guided it to the cord, and they cut it together. When Kim backed away, Callie, Arizona, and Addison, all had tears in their eyes from the sweet gesture and they noticed Nicole was wiping her eyes as well. Nicole was so touched; she couldn't think of a single damn sarcastic comment and decided some moments just didn't call for one.
Still holding the longer end of the cord, Kim asked, "Now what?" Arizona wiped her tears, snorted and replied, "Now I need you to rub Julie's belly in a soft circular motion until you feel it tighten again. She needs to deliver the placenta. Do you have the tub that we asked for close by?" Kim nodded, grabbed the tub, then started massaging Julie's stomach. Within fifteen minutes, Julie started saying she felt as if she were cramping, and Arizona directed, "Okay Kim, come back down here. Whatever you do, DO NOT pull on the cord or the placenta. Julie, I want you to bear down one more time, tighten your legs and give one last push. That's it, here it comes." Addison sighed in relief when the entire placenta came out intact with very little blood. Arizona directed, "Okay, put one of the clean towels between her legs and check it every few minutes for blood. There should be some, but not a great deal. Max will repair any tearing once she gets to the center. You can hang up the phone now." Kim started to nod, then exclaimed, "Wait! Um, Arizona can I talk to you for a minute?" The blonde smiled softly and answered, "Of course, why don't you step out of the room? Everyone will be fine; Addie will keep an eye on them."
Arizona watched as the girl's eyes welled with tears and suggested, "Let's switch to a voice call and I'll take you off speaker." Kim only nodded in agreement, tapped on her phone, then slouched down on the sofa in the living room. Arizona moved a little further away so she couldn't be heard on the skype call. She was certain she knew what the young girl was feeling since she had experienced it after every delivery and calmly asked, "Are you okay?" Kim burst into tears and proclaimed, "I just…you just…I delivered a baby Arizona!" The fetal surgeon smiled and returned, "You did, and you did a wonderful job, at that. You should be very proud of yourself." Kim's voice shook and she asked, "Is this…is this how you feel? Like I want to laugh and cry and it was just so…it was beautiful and scary, and, and…" Arizona soothed, "That's exactly how I feel every single time. It's the miracle of birth. You just brought a new life into the world and it feels exhilarating while at the same time, you now feel responsible for that life. For you, it feels more like that because this is your girlfriend's baby and you will share a bond with him for the rest of his life." Kim sighed, "Yeah, yeah, that's um…that's exactly how I feel." She ran her fingers through her hair and asked, "Did I, was I good at it? Do you think I could do this…as a career?" Arizona's heart filled with warmth and she replied, "You were very good at it, you kept your head under a very stressful situation with no medical background. If this is something you choose to do, you have my support and I will be happy to be your mentor when the time comes." Kim heard the baby cry out and replied, "I should, I should probably get back in there. Thank you Arizona, for everything. You are the best teacher ever."
Arizona stood near the office door staring at her phone, hearing the three shrill beeps, letting her know the call had been disconnected and smiled to herself at the young girl's words. She slipped her phone into her pocket, stretched out her back, held one hand on her lower back and kept the other on her stomach where it always seemed to be, no matter what she was doing. She was normally emotional after a birth, but Kim's comment made her feel reflective. Thinking about everything that just happened, she realized that in that moment, she felt as if she had come full circle. Though she'd always been a teacher in some capacity, she'd never had to guide both her former mentor and a person with no medical knowledge whatsoever in bringing a baby into the world with nothing but the contents of a med kit that hadn't been used in years and household items, remotely through a computer and cellphone. She'd always been confident in her skills, but it felt as if they were constantly being pushed to the limits. This though, this was like validation, to herself, that every struggle she endured was worth it, today she had become the mentor of her mentor. It was both confirming and humbling at the same time.
Both Callie and Addison were watching Arizona closely. She'd barely sat down and for the past two hours, she'd kept one hand on her back or rubbing her stomach. They could hear the exhaustion in her voice as if the dark circles under her eyes weren't proof enough that she was dead on her feet. Addie looked at Callie, nodded her head toward the blonde and whispered, "Go, get her into bed, I've got this." Callie smiled, thanked her friend, then walked up to Arizona, put her arm around her shoulders, guided her out of the room and suggested, "Come on honey, you and our babies need some sleep now. Addie will take care of the rest." She was slightly surprised when her wife laid her head on her shoulder, wrapped her arm around her waist and murmured, "Yes please."
Once they reached their bedroom and went through their nightly routine, Callie helped Arizona undress, threw the covers back so she could sit down, removed her prosthetic, then helped her lie down and get comfortable. She then leaned down, kissed her on the forehead, took off her own clothes, then walked around the bed and crawled in on her side. Arizona instantly curled into her, rested her head on her chest just over her heart, and started drawing designs with her fingertips on Callie's taut abdomen. They both knew that while Arizona was exhausted, it would take her a while to actually settle down and go to sleep. Callie kissed the top of her head and whispered, "You were absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of you. Watching you work, it's just…awe-inspiring sometimes. The way you walked Kim through each step of the birth and I mean…come on, Addie and Herman are just about the two most arrogant surgeons I know, but even they listened to you, it was just…" She shook her head and finished, "You are just one of the most talented surgeons I know Arizona and I am so proud to have experienced that with you." Arizona's heart filled with joy and love, she knew Callie was proud of her and now respected her choice to become a fetal surgeon, but to hear her voice it aloud always made her happy, gave her even more validation. She kissed the bare skin over Callie's heart and murmured, "Thank you. It always means so much to me to hear you say that."
After a few minutes of silence, both of them caressing the other's stomachs, Callie couldn't help but think of the sadness she saw in Arizona's eyes when she talked about Harriett's birth, and asked, "Honey?" Arizona replied with a hum and Callie continued, "When you were talking about April giving birth, you looked so…I don't know, sad. Did something go wrong? I thought they were both okay." Arizona's hand stopped it's movement for a brief minute as she tried to figure out the right words to explain what she was thinking about in that moment, sighed, traced a heart on Callie's stomach and admitted, "It wasn't April that I was thinking about. You know everything Jackson and April went through from the moment she found out she was pregnant. They were signing the divorce papers that day when April suspected she might be pregnant, then they fought over custody and it was ugly. Just as ugly as ours was, if not worse, even though they never went to court. After I stitched April up and returned her to her room, I stood in the hall and watched as they laughed and smiled and though they weren't still IN love, the love was evident and now they shared this beautiful daughter and they put all of that hurt, anger, pain, everything…they put it aside and focused on her and her happiness. I knew then, that's what I had to do. Even though I loved you and hated to see you with someone else, I wanted you to be happy, I wanted Sofia to be happy and to see that there was still love between us. So I went to my office, bought plane tickets, and took Sofia to you and gave you my blessing. So, I wasn't thinking of April earlier, I was thinking of the day I let you go."
Callie could feel the moisture on her chest and knew Arizona was crying as was she. Turning on her side, she kissed Arizona's forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her chin, and finally their lips met in a long languorous kiss. Each of them putting all the love, emotion, and passion into it as they clung to one another, realizing though the past was far behind them and long forgiven, there would still be these moments, these precious little moments where they learned things that only prove their love for the other never died. Callie knew Arizona wasn't telling her any of this to hurt her, nor was she expecting an apology, instead, she offered, "Thank you for telling me that. I never…I didn't know she was born on the same day." Arizona ran her fingers through Callie's hair and replied, "Thank you for seeing that and asking about it, trusting that I would tell you." They both smiled at one another, Callie tucked Arizona's head under her chin, kissed her soft curls, and they both fell into a deep sleep.
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Arizona awoke to the sound of the dog barking in the back yard and figured Sofia had beat them awake and was taking care of her pup. She reached out to cuddle with Callie, only to find the bed empty and the sheets cool to the touch. Wiping her eyes, she struggled to sit up, even more so than the day before and chalked it up to exhaustion. Blinking groggily, she realized even with the blinds closed, it was extremely bright outside and wondered what time it was. She couldn't remember bringing her phone in last night, so she turned to grab her prosthetic leg and saw that Callie must have brought her phone in to her at some point. She picked it up and gasped in surprise when she saw that it was 2:38 pm. She couldn't believe she'd slept so long, yet at the same time, felt like she could sleep even longer. She felt so lethargic and chalked it up to the long night. She noticed she'd received a few messages from Nicole and Max but had more pressing matters to attend to. She took the strap from the drawer, attached it to her leg, pulled it on, again with a little more struggle than usual, and rushed into the bathroom.
After washing up and brushing her teeth, she turned to leave and caught a glance at herself in the mirror. She turned from side to side, then yelled, "Calliope! Callie, come here quick." She laughed out loud when she heard her wife run into the door and mutter, "Ow fuck." Callie opened the bedroom door rubbing her head, looked around the room, and worriedly called out, "Arizona, baby, are you…" "I'm in here. Callie look!" Callie rushed to the bathroom and slid to a halt, catching herself in the doorway and stared slack jawed at Arizona's stomach. Her shocked expression quickly turned into a million dollar smile and she fell to her knees, placed her hands on either side of her wife's much larger stomach, and peppered the tight alabaster skin with kisses while murmuring, "Hello my babies. Look at you growing big and strong in there. Were you getting bored where you were? Did you need to move around a little?" Arizona ran her hands through Callie's hair, tilted her head upwards, and whined, "Calliope, I'm huge." Callie shook her head, softly caressed her stomach, pressed soft open-mouthed kisses across it, stood, looked Arizona in the eyes, and proclaimed, "Arizona, you are the most stunning, gorgeous, beautiful woman in the world. You are housing, protecting, nurturing, and growing our three babies inside you and to me, that's…it's miraculous."
Seeing her wife was still pouting, she turned Arizona so she was facing the mirror, stood behind her, ran the back of her hand along her cheek, and pointed out, "Look how your skin glows, your eyes glisten with happiness and joy, your hair shines. You just exude magnificence." She lowered her hands, cupped Arizona's full breasts, ran her thumbs around the enlarged, dark red areolas, and murmured in her ear, "Your body is preparing to nourish our children and I can't wait to see you feed our babies, to watch them cling to your breast, trusting you to give them what they need." She ran her hands down Arizona's sides, caressed her stomach, then splayed them just below her protruding navel, licked the shell of her ear, and whispered, "And this, every time I see you holding your stomach, hear you talking to our babies, every time you walk into a room, my eyes go directly to this spot because this is where you are growing our three tiny humans and whenever they move and you get bigger, it's proof that they are thriving, that you are all healthy, and sometimes I can't contain the delight and excitement I feel." Arizona softened then, rested her weight against Callie's body, covered her hands with her own and allowed her wife's words to sink in, feeling them comfort her, basking in the knowledge that they were true and Callie honestly felt that way.
Seeing that she was getting through to her wife, Callie turned Arizona around to look at her again, put her hands on her shoulders and declared, "This whole package, you…you, Arizona are the sexiest woman I've ever known and like this…" She shook her head in disbelief and continued in a raspy tone, "I never thought I'd find you more attractive, but like this, carrying our babies, you are just…I can't keep my hands off you, I can't stop thinking about you. You are perfection Arizona. You are not huge, you are not fat, you are carrying our babies, growing our family and it's the sexiest thing in the world to me." Arizona lifted her arms to pull Callie closer and they both giggled when they had to lean in a little further for their lips to touch and Callie murmured, "I love you, all of you." Arizona smiled and returned, "And I love you for loving me." When their lips met, this kiss started slowly, meant to comfort and reassure, but quickly turned heated and hands started roaming, softly, then a little more aggressively at first. Arizona broke the kiss and suggested, "Join me in the shower?" Callie brushed their lips together, nodded, and declared, "Let me go tell Sof I need to help you with something and I'll be right back." Arizona nodded, released her wife, then smacked her on the ass when she started to walk away.
Not trusting her own balance any longer, especially with the unexpected overnight growth, Arizona decided to keep her leg on and stepped into the shower, sighing in relief when the hot water pelted down on her aching shoulder and back muscles. She hung her head, raised both arms to the back of her neck to get the kinks out and smiled when she felt a brief blast of cold air, then her hands were replaced with the stronger, far more talented hands of her wife. When Callie walked into the bathroom and saw Arizona trying to work the knots out of her neck, she realized how sore she must be after being on her feet most of the night, quickly shed her clothes, and stepped in to help her out. After a deeper, more thorough massaging of her neck and shoulders, Callie bent her head forward, nipped at Arizona's earlobe and asked, "Does this feel better?" Arizona lifted her arms, took Callie's hands, moved them to her breasts, and huskily replied, "Mmm, I think you missed a spot though." Callie whispered, "We can't have that now, can we?" She carefully caressed Arizona's full breasts, circled her sensitive nipples with the palms of her hands, and slowly made a trail of soft wet kisses down her neck, nibbled at her pulse point, enjoying how her wife's breathing quickened and her body melted into her own.
Feeling much more relaxed and highly aroused, Arizona turned around, wrapped one arm around Callie's neck and brought her head down for a searing kiss, while running the other up Callie's rib cage until she reached the side of her breast, snaked her hand between them to squeeze and caress the caramel colored mound, licked and nipped her way down Callie's neck to her chest, and took the other breast into her mouth, circling her nipple with her tongue, very much like she would her clit, provoking a loud lewd moan from Callie as she dropped her head back and rested it against the tiled wall. While Arizona's mouth and hands were busy doing the most delicious things to her breasts, Callie's own hands began to wander, caressing Arizona's back, her sides, her ass, and finally slipped around her curvaceous hip, where she rubbed at her mound, causing Arizona to release her nipple with a pop. Looking into one another's eyes, Arizona lowered one hand, cupped Callie's mound and slipped her middle finger between her lower lips to tease her clit with feather-light touches.
The two continued to taunt and tease one another, swiping their fingers through the other's folds, circling their clits, slipping a fingertip into their pulsating opening only to slip it out just as quickly, all while kissing and nipping at one another's lips playfully, giggling and smiling as their foreplay became an erotic game of copycat. Breathing heavily, on the brink of climax from just the playful touches, Arizona raised the stakes and easily slid two fingers into Callie's slick tight channel, crying out when her wife continued to mimic her actions and carefully slipped two fingers inside her own opening. Raising her free hand to caress Arizona's cheek, Callie lowered her head, whispered, "Come with me," slipped her tongue between Arizona's slightly parted lips, and the two began a slow steady rhythm of thrusting and rolling their hips, neither in a hurry to bring the other to climax, nor to chase their own.
As their breathing became more labored and the movement of their bodies more erratic, they pulled back from the kiss, locked eyes with one another, and kept their pace slow and steady. They could see the look in the other's eyes, feel the increasing amount of moisture on their fingers, and hear the escalating moans, and both knew the other was close. Simultaneously, their bodies gave into the pleasure and they began to jerk and tremor as the hot steamy water cascaded down upon them. Carefully removing their hands, they each groaned in disappointment at the loss, and rested their heads on each other's shoulder. Arizona chuckled when Callie whispered, "Wow! That was…intense." Lifting her other hand, Arizona ran her fingers through Callie's hair and murmured, "It always is when we make love like that." She could feel Callie nodding her head, then slowly caressed her wife's back when she felt the tremors of the aftershock wrack her body.
Finally regaining her strength, Callie lifted her head, started shampooing Arizona's hair and asked, "Did you sleep well?" Arizona moaned in pleasure at the attention she was receiving and replied, "Mmm, I did, but why didn't you wake me?" Callie turned them so she could rinse Arizona's hair and answered, "Because you were exhausted and needed your rest. I checked on you frequently to make sure you were okay but figured it wouldn't hurt to let you sleep while you had the chance." Arizona smiled and closed her eyes when Callie massaged the conditioner into her scalp and asked, "What did you do to keep yourself busy?" Callie kissed her nose and responded, "Sof and I cleaned up a little, got the spare room ready to move the bed from the guest suite in there, then she made me make a list of what I wanted for Christmas so she could beg you to take her shopping." Arizona laughed at that and stated, "I think the shopping is what excites her the most." Callie lathered up both of their sponges and they proceeded to wash one another as she replied, "Oh that's definitely the case. Just be prepared with a list for her because she already made me promise to take her for you." Just to tease her wife a little, Arizona hinted, "Well I already bought your present from me, so this trip should be a piece of cake." Callie's eyes sparkled and she asked, "You did? Is it here?" Arizona laughed and scolded, "Don't even think about sneaking around looking for gifts because no, it isn't here. It's someplace safe and you will never find it." Callie pouted, "Do I even get a hint?" Arizona stepped under the shower spray to rinse her own hair and teased, "What did you say? I can't hear you." Callie chuckled, helped her wife rinse her hair and surrendered, "Okay, I get it. No questions. But just so you know, I have your present all picked out as well." Arizona leaned up, kissed Callie softly, and replied, "All I need is you." Callie returned the kiss and declared, "And all I need is you."
Once they were both completely rinsed off, Callie turned off the water, wrapped them both in extra-large soft towels, and escorted her wife back into the bedroom. Going to the dresser, Arizona took out a bra and panties, started to go to the closet, then asked, "Would it be too lazy of me to stay in sweats all day?" Callie smiled softly at her wife, she could still see the exhaustion in her eyes, and replied, "Nope, in fact, I was thinking about putting sweats on myself. What do you say we pull the air mattress back out and have a movie day with Sof?" Arizona sighed in relief, she was still feeling extremely tired, nodded and answered, "I think that sounds amazing." She put on her bra, just in case Jake or Addie came over, reached in the drawer for one of Callie's over-sized t-shirts, then looked at her panties, then down at her belly and asked, "Uh, Calliope, can you help me?" Callie smiled softly, thankful Arizona didn't try to struggle on her own, grabbed a pair of sweats for her, then went to her wife and quickly helped her get dressed.
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While Callie was setting up the mattress and making their bed and Sofia was in her room putting on her pajamas along with Tobin's matching set that Aria bought her, Arizona sat on the sofa and finally read the messages she'd received from Max and Nicole. Max was filling her in on the medical side of things, letting her know both Julie and the baby were doing well, while Nicole, surprisingly, had sent her several pictures of the baby, along with a few of each of them, including her mentor, holding the precious little boy. She shook her head in disbelief as her mind conjured up the cold, closed-off woman she'd first met and struggled to accept the smiling woman holding the baby close to her chest were one in the same.
When Sofia emerged from her bedroom, she ran straight to Arizona and declared, "Mommy, you're awake, are you feeling better?" Arizona pulled her daughter close, gave her a tight squeeze and replied, "I'm fine sweetie, we were just up late helping Julie have her baby and mommy was a little overtired." Sofia bounced on the couch and exclaimed, "Mama told me all about it! She said we could go see him when the roads are clear." Arizona ran her hands through Sofia's soft brown hair and replied, "We most certainly can big girl." Callie piped in, "You need to get your diaper changing practice in, so…" Sofia scrunched up her nose and squealed, "Eww, no way. Am I going to have to change diapers?" Arizona winked at Callie and replied, "Only the really smelly ones that mama and I don't want to deal with." Sofia pinched her nose, shook her head and decided, "How about I change only the pee-pee diapers and you change the smelly ones." Callie laughed at her daughter who didn't even realized she'd been tricked, and watched while Arizona smirked, held out her hand to shake and said, "Deal!"
After finishing the bed, Callie stood to help Arizona off the couch and Sofia exclaimed, "Mommy, look!" Arizona saw that Sofia was pointing at her stomach which now made her look about six and a half months pregnant, and nodded as she explained, "I think your brothers and sister were moving around in there." Sofia quickly walked up to her mommy, put her hands on the sides of her belly, pressed her lips to her stomach and whispered, "Hi guys, its me, Sofia, your big sister. Are you getting bigger? Did you grow? I love you." Over her head, Callie and Arizona smiled at one another and Callie suggested, "Let's lie down and find a movie. How about Disney's A Christmas Carol." Sofia jumped up and down and said, "Yeah, I love that movie, except that last ghost scares me a lot." Arizona moved to the mattress, let Callie help her down, then got herself settled and comfortable, and replied, "That one scares me too. Mama will have to protect us." Callie smiled and replied, "It would be my honor to protect you my ladies." Both Arizona and Sofia giggled, and Arizona found the movie while Callie climbed onto the mattress with Sofia nestled between them.
They hadn't even gotten to the scene with the first ghost yet when Sofia looked up to see her mommy sleeping again. She looked to Callie and worriedly whispered, "Are you sure mommy's okay? She's sleeping again." Callie looked over to see for herself then quietly responded, "Mommy is just fine baby, but as the babies move around more and grow bigger, it's going to tire out her body, so she might sleep a little more than she normally does. Remember how we said her belly is going to get really big?" Sofia glanced back at her mommy's belly, looked back at her mama and asked, "She's not done growing yet?" Callie shook her head and replied, "No honey, we still have a few more months. I just think mommy is super tired today because she was up so late helping Julie." Callie watched as Sofia nibbled on her bottom lip, then promised, "I tell you what, if mommy isn't back to herself by tomorrow, we can have aunt Addie come check on her and the babies." Sofia nodded, stuck out her hand and asked, "Pinkie promise?" Callie connected their fingers and repeated, "Pinkie promise." When they settled back down to watch the movie, Callie glanced over at her wife and hoped the explanation she gave their daughter was the truth.
By the end of the movie, Callie and Sofia were sound asleep and Arizona had maneuvered herself out of the makeshift bed on her own, thanking the powers that be that her wife had purchased the double mattress and it wasn't so close to the ground. After rushing to the bathroom, she washed up, wiped her face with a cool cloth, decided she was starving, and went into the kitchen to start dinner. Callie awoke to the aroma of Italian spices and pungent garlic wafting through the air, looked to her right to see Arizona was gone, and felt relief wash through her when she realized her wife was indeed just tired and needed some extra sleep. Getting out of the bed without waking Sofia, Callie sauntered into the kitchen and was greeted with her favorite super-magic smile. She walked around the island, pulled Arizona into her arms, and asked, "How are you feeling?" Arizona hugged her tightly and sighed, "God, so much better. I think the combination of last night and the babies doing whatever they are doing in there just sapped all my energy." Callie kissed her softly and admitted, "I was a little worried, Sof too. I promised her that I would have Addie come check on you if you didn't feel better by tomorrow." Arizona smiled softly, turned their bodies so she could stir the sauce, and answered, "I feel fine now, but if it will put you both at ease, I don't mind asking Addie to come in and give me a check-up." Callie leaned her head back and asked, "You don't?"
Arizona put the spoon down, lifted her hand to cup Callie's cheek and revealed, "No, I don't because it would make you and Sofia feel better. This isn't just about me, this is about our whole family and while I do feel fine now, I understand why you were both worried. Besides, the babies shifted and my OB should know." Callie slid around behind Arizona, wrapped her arms around her waist, smiled when her fingers barely linked together, and answered, "I trust your judgement; if you say you feel fine and you aren't worried, then that's good enough for me." Arizona turned her head, brushed their lips together, and replied, "Thank you, that means a lot. You know I would never hide anything from you, especially where the babies are concerned." Callie smiled and answered, "I know." She then leaned over further to look into the pot and asked, "What are you making?" Arizona dipped a smaller spoon into the sauce and lifted it to her wife's lips to taste. Callie closed her eyes at the exquisite flavor and murmured, "Mmm your special pasta sauce, definitely feeling better." Arizona laughed and replied, "And starving. The garlic rolls are almost done too. Would you mind waking Sof then setting the table?" Callie kissed her cheek and answered, "Not at all. Especially if it means we get to eat soon. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I tasted that sauce." Arizona laughed and watched Callie walk back into the living room.
After waking Sofia, Callie set the table and instructed Arizona to sit down and let her finish up. Once she washed her hands and face for dinner, Sofia walked into the dining room, went straight to Arizona and asked, "How are you feeling mommy? Do you feel better now? Should we go get Aunt Addie?" Arizona held her arms out for her daughter and reassured her, "Mommy was just very sleepy baby. I do feel much better and thank you for asking. I don't feel like I need a check-up, but if it will help you to stop worrying, we can ask Addie to come over after dinner." Sofia looked into her mommy's eyes, they didn't look as sleepy and they were shiny again like they usually were and she looked like she felt better too. Shaking her head, she answered, "No, if you say you feel better, then that makes me feel better." Arizona kissed her nose, patted her bottom, then looked up to Callie and asked, "What's that saying about apples and trees?" Callie stuck out her tongue, then proceeded to put all the food into serving bowls and carry them to the table.
While they ate dinner, Callie informed them the storm had passed and the roads should be cleared by tomorrow evening, making travel safe for school and work on Thursday. Sofia grumbled for a minute or two until she realized there would only be two days of school until the weekend, then excitedly asked, "Mama, did you tell mommy about Saturday?" Callie swallowed her bite of food, took a sip of her wine and proclaimed, "No, I almost forgot." Arizona furrowed her brow and asked, "What's Saturday?" Callie smiled brightly and answered, "We have an appointment with Clare Fisher at 9:30 am. She's going to take a couple family shots, then do a few maternity shots with just you and a couple with the both of us." Arizona wiped her mouth and asked, "Really? She had an opening so soon?" Callie nodded and replied, "She had quite a few cancellations this week because of the storm, so she fit us in and we set up a couple more appointments just to be safe." Arizona squealed, "Oh, this is going to be so fun." Callie nodded in agreement and they all began eating again.
After a few minutes, Arizona asked, "Isn't that the same day as the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center?" Callie pulled out her phone, looked it up, and answered, "Yeah it is…oooh we could make a whole day of it while we are in the city. Take the pictures, do a little shopping…then hang out for the tree lighting." Sofia clapped her hands and exclaimed, "That's on the list Mama!" Arizona tilted her head in question, then recalled their special list and smiled then declared, "Well, if it's on the list, then we have to do it!" Callie looked at both of her girls and agreed, "A family outing it is then!" She then recalled her recent conversation with Addie and in that moment, it couldn't ring more true, she had everything she needed, everything she ever wanted, sitting right in front of her.
A/N: As you know, I have absolutely no medical knowledge, aside from watching GA and Call the Midwife. It is ridiculous; however, how many you tube videos one can find of people giving birth. I hope I did this chapter justice.
I haven't mentioned it in a while, but all characters belong to Shonda.