Chapter 5:

As Callie opens the door to her new apartment, she sees boxes of the unwrapped furniture. This was her new house. Sadness filled her mind. This was Callie's new home. The place she used to call home was now Arizona's and Lauren's. The apartment they bought as a married couple. The apartment they bought Sofia in as a newborn baby. It all now belonged to Arizona and Lauren. As if their memories all vanished away.

Callie moves into her empty and hollow apartment. It doesn't feel like her home. Home for Callie was somewhere else.

She sees her mattress with no sheets or pillows. She's too exhausted to set anything up. She knows that she will probably call her assistant Miranda to have her apartment set up. She's too lazy to change out of her clothes, so she takes off her pants and sweatshirt to sleep in her sports and briefs.

Although there were many thoughts running through Callie's mind, sleep soon took over. When Callie woke up, her blaring alarm on her phone was the first thing she heard. She set her alarm for 7:30 am. She knew she needed a workout before mentally preparing herself for the morning breakfast with Arizona and Sofia, and perhaps Lauren. She was truly excited to see her daughter, she had painfully waited to meet her. But she wasn't excited for how Arizona would interact while their daughter was around.

Callie and Arizona had been separated for more than a year now. Lauren and Arizona have been together for 7 months. Although Callie had no right to judge Arizona or her decisions, she was beyond shocked when she found out she was engaged already. Her feelings for Arizona never went away, but because of her busy career and lifestyle, she had learned to keep her feelings at bay.

Similar to her blaring alarm, all these thoughts had been shooting in her brain the second she woke up. She felt that there was a war happening in her mind.

She brushed her teeth, fixed her hair into a small man bun, put on some workout shorts, a long sleeve jersey shirt, and got her gym bag that was surrounded by her boxes of unopened furniture. As soon as Callie opened the main entrance of her apartment building to get into a Range Rover with a driver, she was surrounded by the paparazzi. She quickly grabbed her black sunglasses to cover her baggy eyes.

She called Bailey on the way to her private gym to have her apartment setup by the time she got back from Arizona's. Callie's private gym was one of her dream projects, she had it made for herself, when she got a humongous paycheck from several brand deals and partnerships.

She just wanted a quick workout, so she didn't call any of her personal trainers this morning. She did a quick stretch before hopping onto the treadmill for 30 mins. Whenever Callie was on the treadmill, she liked to do something to pass time. Despite the time difference, she called her best friend and teammate, Addison.

Putting in her airpods, she left her phone in the treadmill tray, and after a couple rings, Addie picks up her call.

"Hey Addie!" said Callie enthusiastically

"Woah hold your horses! Why are you so excited?" Addie asked suddenly. She knew Callie was never perky and even if she was excited, it was never to this limit, especially at 7:00 am in the morning.

"Why not? I'm seeing Sofia after like 3 months. I haven't seen her since I left for the tour", Callie replied trying to justify her excitement.

"Well that I understand, but I thought you were gonna see her yesterday?" Addie asked curiously.

Callie sighs and replies, "No, by the time I got to New York, it was like 3:00 am. I got to the apartment to see Sofia, but she was already asleep".

Callie increases her treadmill speed and begins to run. "Well of course she's gonna be asleep at 3:00 am, so then why bother going to the apartment?"

Callie doesn't reply and continues to increase her speed even more. She's overwhelmed by the answer she may reveal.

Addison feels the sudden silence in Callie's lack of answer. She knows something is up. "Callie, I know you want to say something. I promise I won't judge you. You're my best friend".

Callie huffs and sighs, she knows Addison won't let her get away from this. "Okay fine. Every time I came back to New York from a tour, I always went home. You know…to see Arizona and Sofia, back to our apartment". Trying her best to control her emotions, she continues. "And then this year I went on tour. Addison, we finally won and there was no one else I wanted to see more. I wanted to see them". Callie laughs at her ridiculousness. "I mean I didn't even realize that it wasn't my apartment anymore. It wasn't my place to go back home and be with my family. During the divorce and after I only stayed at your apartment. Yesterday night it finally hit me. Arizona is moving on and now she's probably gonna have her own family. And I can't do anything about it because I focused too much on this goddamn career."

Addison understood Callie's overwhelming feelings. She feels devastated for her best friend. She saw the way she was after the divorce, but this was the first time she heard Callie's opening to the loss of her family and wife.

"Callie, you know, you can still talk to Arizona about this. Tell her how you feel. Apologize, just tell her that you never stopped loving her. Tell her you will never make those mistakes again.

Callie wipes her tears off. She gets off the treadmill. "Addison, she's so happy with Lauren. She's finally moving on. I love her enough to let her go".

Trying to move on from the depressing conversation. Callie asks Addison about the tour press conferences.

After ending her call from Addie. Callie quickly showers and heads out to her car and driver to take her to Arizona's apartment.

At Arizona's apartment. The house is wide awake at 7:00 am by Sofia's loud chatter and screams. Arizona couldn't get her remaining sleep last night. Her thoughts reeling from Callie's words. Everytime she closed her eyes, Callie's face would appear. She had to remind herself about Lauren and the fact that she's engaged to a great woman who loves her.

She already hears Sofia calling her out from the kitchen. She sees her daughter waiting for her, standing on the kitchen counter, yelling "Mommy food!"

Arizona sees the sight of her daughter and although all her worries about last night melts away, she realizes today might be even more overwhelming. But she knows she has to focus on Sofia's needs; physical and emotional.

But right now, Sofia is on the kitchen counter, she has bigger things to worry about! She yells, "Sofia Torres! Get off the counter right now! How many times have I told you it's very dangerous".

She sees her daughter's mischievous face and knows that her daughter did not take her seriously. Arizona gives her one stern look and quickly Sofia's silly face turns into a scared one and she gets off the counter.

Sofia approaches Arizona and hugs her saying, "Good morning mommy, I sorry I was jumping on the counter again".

"It's okay baby, but please do not jump on the counter again, Understood?" Arizona stated to Sofia in a serious manner. "Yes mommy, I promise", said Sofia.

Because of Sofia's illness, Arizona became a very protective mom. She was careful of her diet, activities, what she's learning in school, her friend group, medications. Arizona had noted it all down. This didn't go unnoticed by Callie despite her busy schedule. Callie knew how protective Arizona was of Sofia, especially her presence in the media. Their divorce was a shock to the world and the entertainment industry . Callie made sure that the media didn't reach Sofia, although most of the time Sofia lived a normal childhood, there were times where Arizona had seen the paparazzi at the park or near Sofia's school.

Arizona already knew that marrying Callie, she also signed up for the world to view and judge their relationship and family. But because of Sofia's condition, she had become very protective and irrational. This had caused countless fights and arguments between Callie and Arizona. Perhaps one of the many reasons as to why they divorced.

Although it was a weekend, Sofia had limited screen time. While Arizona made her healthy version of pancakes, Sofia watched her favorite cartoon on the tv. Arizona had yet to tell Sofia was Callie's early arrival to New York. Sofia had been eagerly waiting for her mama, but she was also aware of Mama's soccer job. To Sofia, her mama was coming home in 15 days. Arizona wanted to tell Sofia the very morning, but deep down she wanted to see her daughter's reaction to see mama after 3 months.

They both sat on the table to have a nice and peaceful breakfast. During breakfast time, Sofia always took her daily medication, which Arizona strictly had a timed schedule for.

Sofia had been taking tablets for a year now. She always fussed with them. "Only two more to take Sofia, come on". Sofia made a grossed face, the exact expression Callie made to certain foods she didn't despised. "Hey I promise you after your surgery, you won't need to take this many".

Sofia nervously looked down. She was anxious as a 5 year old. Arizona held Sofia's face. "We will never go to hospitals, never have anymore surgeries", both their eyes filled with tears. Sofia quietly asked, "You promise?". Arizona smiled and replied, "I promise".

Before any more words could be exchanged, the doorbell rang. Now suddenly annoyed, Sofia started to get up from her chair, "Well that must be Lauren". Arizona in a mischievous way said, "No baby, Lauren will come over in the evening, do you wanna open the door?". The 5 year old was now confused, her small feet quickly ran to get the door,

As Sofia opened the door, she was met with a face she hadn't seen in 3 months. "MAMA!!" Sofia excitedly screamed. Callie picked up Sofia off the floor, and engulfed in a long and tight hug. "I missed you so much Sofia," Callie said.

Unlike Sofia, Arizona remained in the kitchen, quietly listening to the reunion of the two. For some reason she didn't have the courage to go with Sofia and open the door. Deep down she knew she wouldn't be able to control her feelings and would probably tear up. She didn't want Callie to see her in that position anymore. She wanted to hide all her vulnerability from Callie, scared of what that would bring upon between them.

Back in the front hallway of the apartment, the identical pair had yet to break their embrace. "Okay Mama you can let me go now", Sofia said in a muffled voice.

Callie tightens their embrace one last time before letting Sofia go. Just as Callie lets Sofia bounce out on the floor, Arizona peeks into the front hallway entrance.

Before Callie can look up, Sofia yells again, "Mommy look who's here, it's Mama she came back early!!".

Although they briefly met last night, Arizona didn't want to burst Sofia's bubble, so she pretended to be as surprised as Sofia. "Oh my god, Mama is here! I guess you're right Sofia she came early for you" Arizona said in an overly perky voice.

Callie looks up to see the beautiful face. Even without makeup and just a bun, Arizona was the most perfect face Callie had ever seen in her entire life.

From Sofia's perspective, Arizona and Callie have a friendly relationship. Any feelings of regret, resentment or sadness were oblivious to the 5 year old. Much credit was given to Arizona, as she never brought her feelings for Callie onto Sofia.

"Hi Callie, wanna come inside for breakfast?" Arizona asked in her fake perky voice that Callie recognized right away. The emotions from last night hadn't disappeared from Arizona's tired eyes.

Before Callie could reply, Sofia grabbed her hand to bring her inside the apartment. "Come on Mama, let's have breakfast," said Sofia.

As Callie is being brought in the kitchen, she looks at Arizona's eyes for a silent approval. She didn't know if Arizona had other plans with Sofia or how long she could be at the apartment.

Callie and Sofia both sat on high top chairs facing the kitchen. Suddenly Arizona comes closer to Callie, while sitting maintaining a distance, without getting Sofia's attention, she quietly whispers "You can stay as long as you like".

Callie couldn't help but be captivated by her grace and the way she effortlessly moved near her without breaking Sofia's happy bubble with her two moms together. Arizona felt a soft warmth wash over her as she sensed Callie's eyes on her. She looked up briefly, catching Callie's gaze, and a subtle smile played on her lips. Callie quickly averted her eyes, her heart racing, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

lTheir eye contact was broken when Sofia tugged at Callie's arm, "Mama are you listening to me?". Arizona realized the way they were looking at each other. She quickly diverted herself and began making breakfast for Callie and some more for Sofia. It was moments like these that made Arizona rethink everything.

Callie and Sofia continued to chatter, but every few moments, Callie would glance at Arizona who had her face turned away from them. Then Arizona silently served them breakfast and began to leave the kitchen. Before she could leave, Sofia asked her, "Mommy why aren't you finishing your breakfast?". Callie was glad Sofia asked her this question. She secretly really wanted Arizona to stay and have breakfast with them.

"I'm not too hungry honey, I'll be in your room folding laundry okay?" Arizona quickly replied and did not wait for an answer before leaving to go to Sofia's room.

Callie and Sofia enjoyed their delicious breakfast. Arizona would rarely allow Sofia to eat sugary things. And even then her food was made from natural ingredients rather than processed. It was usually a weekend where pancakes with loads of syrup would be allowed. Luckily today was that day for Callie and Sofia.

"All done Mama!", said Sofia. "Look at you big girl! Hey why don't you clean up yourself in the bathroom, I just wanna talk to Mommy" said Callie.

Without a reply, Sofia ran off to the bathroom to clean off her face with syrup all over it. Callie grabs the plates and washes them off in the sink, she reminisces about their time in the kitchen, often making breakfast together as family, countless dinners being made with music in the background or times when Callie came home and hugged Arizona's waist as she cooked.

Trying her best not to startle Arizona, Callie quietly makes her way into Sofia's room, where Arizona is seen folding Sofia's laundry and cleaning her room. Like last night, they found themselves in a quiet space alone. Callie leaned against the room's entrance, feigning casualness, Arizona standing near Sofia bed folding her clothes.Their eyes met once again, and this time, they held each other's gaze for a lingering moment.

Callie breaks their moment, "So are all the preps done for her surgery?".

Arizona sighs and replies while folding Sofia's favourite pink pyjamas, "Yes she's supposed to have it in 4 days, will you be there?".

Without skipping a beat Callie replies, "Of course. My parents are coming in two days as well to see Sofia."

"They don't have to, it's just going to cause more chaos and Sofia doesn't need that. The media will know everything, I-I just want this last surgery for her to be done smoothly. I want all this to be over" Arizona rumbled in a frustrated tone.

Trying not to start an endless argument, Callie calmly spoke, "I want the same thing. I have already told Miranda, she's going to have everything in place and no one will know. I promise".

Arizona lets out a sarcastic chuckle and continues folding without making any eye contact with Callie. Callie's eyes sadden as she is aware of her many broken promises to her family.

"I know I haven't been the best partner or mother or even good enough. But this is me truly trying for Sofia. I know I have no right or opinion over you. But for Sofia, I will continue to be there for her, regardless of any circumstances" Callie said in a determined manner.

In that exchange, their feelings spoke volumes. Callie's eyes held a mixture of tenderness and longing, a silent admission of the emotions she had been trying to suppress. Arizona's eyes lightly sparkled with affection, perhaps reflection of the love she had been harboring but afraid to express.

A small, knowing smile played on Arizona's lips, and Callie's heart skipped a beat. The intensity of their connection was undeniable, a magnetic pull that had kept them connected even after all they had been through.

Just as their gazes deepened, the doorbell rang. Before they could check the door themselves. Tiny footsteps ran towards the door. Quickly Arizona shouted, "Sofia you are not allowed to open the door unless I say so!". It was too late as Sofia did not hear Arizona, instead she heard an unexpected reply, "Mommy Lauren is here".

Startled, they turned toward the sound, their faces flushing as they saw Lauren standing at the doorway. Lauren arched an eyebrow, her gaze shifting between the two women.

A/N: Thank you for all the amazing reviews! I apologize for taking so long to update each time. I am trying my best to move the story forward and still make it interesting. Let me know your thoughts! How will Lauren react to seeing Callie for the first time????