While all the surgeons were still splashing around the pool, Callie noticed Arizona was missing and looked up to see her sitting at the patio table with Richard. Though it was rather dark out now, she could see her under the fairy lights and her heart did that flip again when the blonde tossed her head back laughing, dimples popping and blue eyes twinkling with mirth. She watched as Arizona hugged Lorraine, Kim, Maria, and Miguel goodbye then pulled Bella onto her lap and whispered something in her ear. She guessed what it was when the little girl's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she looked at her parents hopefully. The Latina couldn't help but laugh when the child jumped off Arizona's lap and ran into the yard screaming, "Sofia, I get to stay. I'm spending the night." She heard all the kids squealing and looked up in time to see her friends and co-workers walking past the pool waving at everyone. Callie waved and laughed when Lorraine called out, "We're heading home, gotta be in early. Our boss is a real stickler." When she lowered her hand, she smiled at the ring that adorned her finger and looked up to find her wife once again, she needed to see her to know it was real. Arizona was walking toward the fire, her hands full of what looked to be ingredients for s'mores, and all the kids trailing behind her like she was the pied piper. She wondered if Arizona realized how naturally motherhood came to her, why she doubted for one second she wasn't cut out for this. She couldn't help but wonder what Arizona would be like when she was pregnant, belly round with their baby. Would she be one of those women who kept her hand on her stomach protectively? Would she be someone who worried about every little thing? Her eyes widened when she asked the same question about herself, what would SHE be like when Arizona got pregnant?
Feeling someone come up beside her, Callie broke from her musings and glanced over to see her friend and former chief looking in the same direction and revealed, "It was her." Miranda looked at the taller woman in question and smirked when she heard, "At the World Cup, it was Arizona standing next to me." Callie watched the knowing grin spread across her friend's face and was slightly surprised when the shorter woman nodded and responded, "I know." She furrowed her brow in confusion and Miranda explained, "When I asked you who was standing next to you, this gorgeous smile formed on your face. It was a smile I hadn't seen for two years because it's reserved for one person and one person only. It's the same one you get whenever you look at Arizona or…right there…even hear her name. You never looked at Blake like that." Callie put her head down in shame and muttered, "I was so stupid. I should have said something then." Miranda shook her head and offered, "You weren't ready. Neither of you were. It was hard and messy and it got really ugly, but I think…I think you all needed for that to happen. You needed this to get your head on straight and Robbins, she needed it too. She needed to be able to shine without your shadow crossing her path." Callie nodded in understanding and responded, "We said that too. It just…it feels different this time. Now is our time Bailey." The shorter woman smiled and quipped, "I know that too. You're going to make it this time Robbins-Torres. I can feel it." Callie put her arm around her friend and looked at her wife who was helping the kids with their sweet treats and agreed, "Yeah, me too."
After playing around for a little longer, everyone slowly trickled out of the pool, changed into dry clothes and were currently sitting around the fire. Though it was getting late, it was clear that the visiting surgeons were hesitant to leave since they were getting on a plane in the morning and there was no telling when they would all be together again. It seemed the kids felt the same way and were determined to get in all the play time they could while the adults were distracted. After asking several times, Sofia and Zola finally got a new picture taken for their 'best friend' frame and ran into the house to get it off the printer in the office. Arizona saw this as the perfect opportunity to wrangle all the rest of the kids into the house and was about to help them get cleaned up when she heard the patio door open and turned around to see Meredith walking in with a bag of clothes. Zola ran up to her and exclaimed, "Look mommy, we have a new picture for our frame." Meredith pulled both girls into a tight hug and replied, "Look at that. You've both grown so much in two months." The little girls giggled at that and ran into the other room with the rest of the kids showing off their pictures. Meredith looked to Arizona, smiled and said, "Thanks for that. I thought I'd help out since some of them are mine." Arizona laughed, pointed to the bag and replied, "It's a good thing you brought those because I was about to give Bailey the choice between one of my shirts which would be way too big on him or a pair of baby blue My Little Pony pajamas." Meredith laughed and answered, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time." Arizona nodded and responded, "True." Meredith gathered her kids and looked to the fetal surgeon in question. Remembering no one knew this house, Arizona guided her former colleague into the guest suite and supplied, "The bathroom is right through there, you should find towels or whatever you need. If you want to dip them in the tub or the shower for a minute to get the dirt and chlorine off, feel free. I'm going to go change too then help the others, if you need anything, just holler." Meredith nodded her thanks and guided her children into the room.
Deciding to take Arizona up on her offer, she helped Bailey with his shower and told Zola to hop in while she was helping her brother get dressed. Once Bailey was dressed, he sprinted from the room and she laughed when she heard, "Derek Bailey Shepherd, stop running in the house." She listened for her son's response and heard him mutter, "Sorry Arizona." She shook her head in disbelief, the other blonde was the only one who could get him to mind his manners and she was certain it had everything to do with being full named. No one could use your full name like Arizona. While she was waiting for Zola, Meredith looked around the room and noticed the pictures set up on the dresser and realized the entire room had an 'Arizona' vibe to it. She really hadn't spoken to Callie much in the past couple of years, they were both dealing with their own stuff. But by the looks of the house, the accessibility of it all, it was clear this hadn't just been done in the last two months and Callie had spent this time away figuring out she wanted her wife back. When she went to check on Zola, she noticed the large bathtub and saw that it was a walk-in, clearly designed specifically for Arizona. She wondered how the blonde responded the first time she saw all of this.
Arizona stepped into the open door of the guestroom and watched Meredith as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom and took everything in. As if the other woman asked her question aloud, Arizona offered, "It was a shock. Coming here and seeing all this. It wasn't my motivation for moving here. I thought any chance we had died with the banging of that gavel. This though, she's changed, we both have. We're going to make it this time." Meredith smiled at that, told Zola where her clothes were, closed the door to the bathroom and sat on the bed beside Arizona. They were never close, but they always had an understanding of each other. Looking at the happiness on the blonde's face, she thought about how, or why rather, her first marriage fell apart. Reaching out in a very unlike Meredith move, she took the pale hand in hers and revealed, "I wonder sometimes…if we had been there for you more, me, Derek, and Christina, I wonder if you would have had such a hard time." Arizona knew exactly what her friend was talking about and opened her mouth to answer when she heard, "I asked myself the same question several times over the years." Both women looked up to see Christina standing in the doorway and laughed when she said, "I'm not gonna hold your hand." Arizona reached out and pulled the other woman onto the bed next to her and gripped her hand tight. She was surprised when the cardio surgeon allowed it.
They never talked about this. She and Christina talked about it once in the lounge when her leg was troubling her and she and Meredith talked about it when the plane crashed in Seattle, but other than that, no one, NO ONE ever talked about it. Arizona looked at the two women on either side of her and offered, "I was in a bad place. We all were and we all dealt with it as best as we could." Christina shook her head and corrected, "We didn't lose as much as you did. We should have…I don't know…something. I mean when the shooting happened, they made us all undergo treatment and didn't allow us to work until we were cleared by that head shrinker. After the…after that, nothing and none of us were really in the condition to say we needed it. No one said anything, they acted like it didn't happen." Meredith and Arizona both nodded then Meredith replied, "I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I can see…we can all see that you and Cal have changed. You are both completely different and that makes you different as a couple. But we don't want…" Arizona took a deep breath and remarked, "Ahhh, the best friend speech." Both women shook their heads and Christina finished, "We don't want you to feel like you are alone again. We don't know what you are going through physically, but we do emotionally. We were out there with you. We know about the nightmares; we know how a smell or a sound can take you back there. We know. It's shitty, but we are part of a club, a club we never asked to join, but it's just us now." Meredith squeezed the pale hand in hers and said, "None of us…" She stopped and motioned to the three of them with her hands and continued, "None of us are good at sharing our feelings. But sometimes, you don't need to." Christina laughed and revealed, "Every year on that day, this creeper calls me and we just sit on the phone and listen to each other breathe." Arizona laughed at that but she got it. She understood it and oddly, hearing that made her feel better. Meredith added, "So we are just saying, call us. We know. We also know Cal can be…ah…intense. She's changed, but if things get tough, just…call us."
Christina felt a lump forming in her throat as she watched Arizona fight back the tears. She hopped off the bed, waved in the blonde's direction and quipped, "But I draw the line at hugs." Meredith felt the tears forming in her own eyes and realized this is something she should have done six years ago. She pulled Arizona into a hug and whispered, "I'm sorry we weren't there." Arizona pulled back, wiped her eyes and answered, "You are now. I've been to therapy, I still have the memories, I still have the fears, but I know how to cope with them better and I've been telling Callie little pieces at a time, it has really helped." Both women looked at one another, shocked by this revelation. Arizona smiled and said, "I'll talk to my wife first. I'll try to make her understand…and she will listen, because she wants to, she wants to know and understand now, but I'll call you if I need extra support." Meredith smiled at that response and said, "As it should be." Christina nodded her head, looked at the two blondes and stated, "Tequila." With that, she left the room making the other two laugh. They only laughed harder when they heard, "Mommy, can I come out of the bathroom yet?" Meredith's eyes grew big and she ran to the door and exclaimed, "Oh Zo Zo, I'm so sorry." The little girl looked at the two women and said, "I turned on the water in the sink so I couldn't listen. Auntie Maggie said that's what polite people do." Arizona hugged her and responded, "Thank you sweetheart." She looked to Meredith and said, "Thank you too. I'll go tuck her in with the rest of them in the spare room." The taller blonde nodded and the three of them left the room.
Callie sat by the fire, half listening to the stories that everyone was telling and watched as Christina emerged from the house and went straight for the bottle of tequila. She wondered what was taking her wife so long and why she, Christina, and Meredith were all in the house together. They were friends, they were friendly, but they weren't the most likely trio to disappear together for a long period of time. When Meredith came out shortly afterward without Arizona, Callie began to worry and went in search of her wife. She just stepped into the dining room when she saw Arizona coming out of the spare bedroom in an oversized Fresh START t-shirt and baggy black sweats. Her mega-watt smile bloomed on her face, a warmth spread throughout her body, and those damn butterflies were fluttering all over the place at the sight.
She wasn't sure what it was that made her respond the way she did to seeing her wife wearing her clothes, but it never failed to excite her. From the first time Arizona spent the night with her and strolled into the kitchen wearing nothing but an old Miami Dolphins t-shirt, her heart always went into overdrive any time Arizona wore something that belonged to her. Playfully narrowing her eyes, she walked up to her wife, wrapped her arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and asked, "Who said you could wear my clothes?" Arizona positively beamed at her, lifted her left hand, wiggled her ring finger, and answered, "I don't need permission, I've got this." Callie took her hand, kissed the back of it, linked their fingers together and asked, "Hmm is that so?" Arizona wrapped her other hand around Callie's neck, stretched up on her toes, nibbled her bottom lip and murmured, "That's exactly so. You're stuck with me now Robbins-Torres." Callie tightened her grip on Arizona's back bringing her even closer and slipped her tongue between welcoming pink lips.
Tilting her head to deepen the kiss, Callie slipped her hand down Arizona's back and caressed her ass, moaning when she felt her wife do the same to her. They had barely been married for 24 hours now and have spent very little of that time together. Though she had a houseful of guests, she wanted nothing more than to walk her wife backward into the bedroom and have her way with her. Knowing that wasn't' the best idea, she broke the kiss, rested their foreheads together and whispered, "I want you so much." Arizona smiled, rubbed their noses together and replied, "I want you too." They jumped apart when they heard, "I want to walk into a room just one time and not see you two going at it." Callie looked up, glared at her friend and retorted, "You know, for someone who is here to help us have a baby, you sure do interrupt us a lot." Addison laughed and responded, "I know you're this big bad ortho goddess and all, but you are forgetting that you are missing a very crucial piece of anatomy in order to do that." Arizona shook her head and quipped, "No we aren't, we have a drawer full of them, even more now after last night." Callie laughed at the stunned expression on the redhead's face, followed her wife outside, and lifted her hand to close the other woman's mouth as she passed by.
Catching up with her wife, Callie wrapped her arms around her from behind and giggled, "I can't believe you just said that." Arizona turned around in her arms, kissed her softly and responded, "I've decided to fight fire with fire. Every time she interrupts us, I'm going to say something outlandish and ridiculous until she stops." Callie answered, "Yeah, but that was the truth." Arizona shrugged and replied, "She doesn't know that." Callie opened her mouth to say something and was cut off by Addison who declared, "Oh my God you two…" "Yeah, I think we should use the double header tonight. We haven't tried that one yet." Arizona supplied, laughing when their friend growled and ran away. Callie was nearly bent over; she was laughing so hard. Standing up she wiped the tears from her eyes and observed, "Wow. It worked." Arizona nodded her head and turned to walk toward the fire. Callie took her hand, linked their fingers, and remarked, "You know, we haven't used that one yet." Arizona glanced at her wife, winked and whispered, "Oh I've got big plans for that one and it involves number 48." Callie groaned and asked, "Would it be rude to send everyone home now?" Arizona chuckled and tugged Callie's hand, leading her toward the double canvas, 'love seat' near the fire and glared at Addison when she got up from her seat and moved to the double chair. Addison grinned mischievously at the blonde who smiled politely, allowed Callie to sit down then climbed on her lap popping her dimples at her. Addison huffed, stood up, and growled, "Bitch" under her breath. Arizona barked and everyone stopped and looked at the three women who were in a fit of giggles now.
Taking her own seat once again, Addison looked at April and asked, "Who were you wondering about?" April replied, "I was asking if Mr. Kelligan still comes into the ER." Alex took a drink of his beer and responded, "Not since Robbins shot him." Addison, Callie, and Christina all looked to the blonde fetal surgeon and hollered, "What?" Arizona huffed, slid off Callie's lap and explained, "I didn't shoot him, Danielle's vagina shot him." Callie shook her head in disbelief and asked, "Honey, were you taking shots with Mer and Christina?" Arizona rolled her eyes at her wife and explained, "We were slow one day in the ER when the resident hypochondriac came in at the same time as this 18 year old girl with abdominal pains. I was palpating her stomach when a gun went off and shot the other patient." Bailey added, "I damn near shit myself." Christina asked, "So where was the gun?" Karev cut in, "Girl hid it in her vagina, tried to smuggle it into the prison." Callie looked worriedly at Arizona and asked, "When was this?" Arizona smiled and responded, "Oh, just a couple of weeks before I married Owen and April saw my boobs." Callie glared at the younger redhead and replied, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Always afraid of that stare, April slunk down in her chair. Christina looked at Arizona and asked, "You married Owen?" Richard piped in, "I married Torres." Everyone's eyes bulged and they all turned their gazes to the ortho surgeon. Callie started laughing and corrected, "No, you married Calliope Plantain." Richard shook his head and replied, "Oh, that's right." When they didn't go into further detail, everyone just stared at them until Callie shrugged and supplied, "Pegasus." They all nodded their heads in understanding.
Aria was confused as hell. She had no idea who these people were or what kind of hospital they were running in Seattle. She looked to her sister and asked, "So you all just made your rounds with each other?" All the surgeons laughed at the unintentional pun and Karev answered again, "Yep, one way or the other, we've all slept with each other." Knowing she was going to stir the pot, Meredith winked at Callie and added, "I've slept with Torres." Arizona whipped her head around to her wife and challenged, "You said you never…" Callie held up her hand, sent the general surgeon a death glare and simply responded, "George." Arizona breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long when she heard, "Oh yeah, I slept with Cal too," coming from Addison's mouth. Callie felt her wife stiffen and whispered, "Karev." She turned her glare on Addison and snorted when Arizona smiled and said, "Oh, so that means we've slept together too Ads." Addison huffed at having been bested by the blonde yet again and retorted, "Yeah but no one's ever made up a song about my vagina." Arizona beamed at her and quipped, "That's nothing to brag about." She watched her friend deflate then turned her gaze to Meredith and asked, "Oh yeah, why exactly were you singing about my vagina Grey?" Meredith smiled and responded, "Because we've slept together." Callie snapped her neck to look at her wife and Arizona rolled her eyes and explained, "You and George." Callie nodded her head and Addison piped up, "Ohhh, that means Robbins and Karev have slept together." Arizona narrowed her eyes at the redhead, started to get up and said, "Oh Addie, that reminds me, I have a book for you." Callie started laughing, pulled her wife back down next to her and ordered, "You two stop trying to get under each other's skin!" Everyone laughed when the two grown, award winning, triple board certified surgeons stuck their tongues out at each other.
Aria leaned over to the younger redheaded doctor who seemed very nice and asked, "Are they always like this?" April smiled and nodded, "Most of the time, when they aren't at each other's throats." Aria shook her head and asked, "This isn't at each other's throats?" April laughed and responded, "No, this is them getting along." Aria sat back and listened as the stories went on and each of the surgeons threw out little wisecracks to get the other going. There was a huge part of her that was swimming in regret for having missed out on so much of her sister's life, but there was that little tiny part that was happy she had found a family in this group of people. Before long, everyone started to wind down and Richard, being the father figure that he was, spoke up, "I hate to have to do this, but it looks like it's time we head back. We have an early flight." Everyone grumbled in complaint, stood up, and helped put the chairs and everything back where they found it before walking toward the house.
Once they got in the house, Arizona looked at all of her friends and offered, "Thank you all for coming out here for our wedding and the opening of the center. It really means a lot to me, to both of us, that you were here." Addison hugged both women and offered, "Call me in a couple of weeks. Let me know…ah, how married life is treating you." Arizona whispered in her ear, "Thank you for everything." Addison pulled back, winked at the couple and went out to the car. Callie hugged her sister and said, "I'm glad you stayed. I hope you had a good time." Aria nodded and responded, "I did." Pulling back, she looked at her sister and sister-in-law and asked, "Is it…um…can I call?" Arizona hugged the older woman and responded, "We would be upset if you didn't. Whenever you are in town, just let us know." Callie looked at her wife, got the nod and offered, "You can stay here with us." Aria smiled that family smile and answered, "I'd really like that." Arizona shrugged and said, "Just bring the pit bull a treat and she will be happy." All three women laughed at that, hugged again, and said their good-byes.
Jake, Matthew, and Alex each carried a child outside, then Alex came back and hugged his friends. He looked to both of them and ordered, "No more crap out of you two now, okay?" Callie smiled and returned, "Same to you. You're a married man now." He nodded, looked at Arizona and husked out, "You…you did good boss." Arizona just smiled knowing her protégé wasn't good at this type of thing. Callie was surprised when April hugged her and whispered, "She loves you with everything she has. Take care of her." Pulling back, Callie smiled at the younger surgeon and responded, "Me too and you can count on it." Richard hugged both women and declared, "I'm happy for you. You two…you've been through hell. You deserve this." Bailey looked at one of her oldest friends and offered, "We miss you both around there, but what you're building out here, it's a good life. I'm glad you two figured it out." Both women hugged her at the same time and whispered thank you in her ear. Christina held up her bottle and quipped, "See ya." Both women laughed and turned to see Meredith at the end of the line. She hugged them and as she was walking out the door, she looked to Arizona and offered, "Don't forget what I said." Arizona smiled and replied, "I won't. I promise."
Standing in the doorway, the couple watched as their friends pulled off and Callie looked to Arizona and asked, "What was that about? Did something happen earlier?" She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Oh my God, did they corner you with the best friend speech?" Arizona pulled her wife into the house, locked the door, wrapped her arms around her waist and answered, "No, they…uh, they apologized for not being there for me and told me if I am having a hard time…nightmares or just need to talk to someone who gets it, to call one or both of them." Callie took a deep breath realizing her wife was talking about the plane crash, ran her fingers through Arizona's hair, and asked quietly, "What did you say?" Arizona brushed their lips together and replied, "I told them thank you, but I had my wife to lean on and I needed to talk to you about those things first and foremost." Callie felt a warmth flow through her at her wife's response and saw it as further proof that they were going to make it this time. She pulled Arizona closer, murmured, "Thank you," then connected their lips in a long, sensual kiss.
Pulling back, Callie looked around the house and grumbled, "Ugh, I hate having guests." Arizona's shoulders slumped when she saw the mess they needed to clean up. She knew neither of them would sleep knowing the house was a mess and suggested, "How about we just put away the food, load the dishwasher, and leave the rest until tomorrow?" Callie saw that most of the rest of it was outside; pool toys, towels, a few plastic cups, nodded her head and agreed, "I can live with that. It's getting pretty late." She bent down, brushed their lips together, and whispered, "Have I told you how much I love you?" Arizona ran her fingers along the side of Callie's head and responded, "Not in the last few hours." Callie kissed her nose and replied, "Oh, I love you way more now than I did then." Arizona tilted her head, looked into Callie's eyes and knew it was true because she felt the same way. Smiling, she asked, "How is it possible? I always feel like I couldn't love you any more than I do at a certain point, then I just, I feel like I keep falling deeper and deeper." Callie pulled her closer, shrugged and responded simply, "I've come to the conclusion that our love is endless." Arizona slid her hand forward to caress a soft caramel colored cheek and whispered, "Coming from anyone else, hearing another couple say that, I'd think it was the cheesiest thing I ever heard. When it's about us though, I believe that with my whole heart." She stood on her tiptoes, pulled Callie in for a long languorous kiss and sighed in content when their tongues met in that slow passionate dance.
Slightly lightheaded when the kiss came to its end, Arizona stepped back and pouted, "Let's get the house cleaned up, check on the girls, and head to bed." Callie started collecting all the food they brought in earlier and putting in in containers while Arizona started on the dishes and asked, "How is it we gained a child?" Arizona dumped the dried up chip dip in the garbage disposal and answered, "She just looked so sad to be leaving and she's going to the day care anyway, so I figured it wouldn't hurt her to stick around." Callie smiled and muttered, "Good cop." Arizona glared at her over her shoulder and retorted, "Wait until your son gets here and we will see who turns into the good cop." Callie couldn't help the smile that split her face when that chubby blonde haired boy popped into her head again but stuck to her guns and argued, "It'll still be you." Arizona rinsed a glass, pursed her lips, rolled her eyes and murmured, "Mmm hmmm. Just you wait and see." Callie carried everything to the refrigerator, took the dishes she just emptied to the sink, wrapped her arms around Arizona's middle splaying both hands on her lower abdomen and asked, "How are you so sure it's a boy?" Arizona shrugged, continued rinsing the plates and answered, "I don't know. Just a feeling I have, just like I know he's in there." Callie nibbled on her earlobe, she wanted to believe that too, she really did, she just worried… "It's okay for us to be hopeful and believe it Calliope. If it doesn't work, we are going to be disappointed whether we speak our excitement that it could happen aloud or hold it in." Arizona said as she put the last of the plates in the dishwasher, turned in her wife's arms, and lifted her hands to wrap around her neck. Knowing she was right, Callie nodded and declared, "We won't be disappointed. He's in there. I can feel it too." Arizona smiled softly and brushed their lips together then pulled back and whispered, "Take me to bed Mrs. Robbins-Torres."
Callie held onto Arizona with one hand, turned off the kitchen light with the other, then scooped her into her arms, muffling that adorable squeal with her lips. Pulling back, Arizona asked, "What are you doing Calliope?" Callie smiled her million dollar smile and answered, "It's our first night at home as a married couple and I am carrying my wife across the threshold." Arizona smiled at the response, kissed Callie's cheek then down the side of her neck, let out a contented sigh, and whispered, "We're married." Callie kissed her forehead and responded, "We're married." She stopped at the entryway to the dining room and Arizona dimmed the light so they could barely see down the hall and buried her face in Callie's neck enjoying the closeness, the romantic gesture. Callie stepped into their bedroom grateful for the light from the bedside table, gently closed the door with her foot, and carried her wife across the room. Gently lowering her feet to the floor, she pulled back the covers on the bed, slipped her hands into the waistband of Arizona's pants, bringing them down to her knees, then helped her sit on the bed, removed them the rest of the way, took off her prosthetic leg, removed her own pants, then sat down beside her and turned off the light.
The blonde rested her head on the Latina's shoulder, caressed her bare thigh, and sighed, "It's been a long day." Callie snaked her hand under Arizona's shirt, leaned her head against soft blonde curls and whispered, "It really has." Rubbing her hand up and down her back, Callie added, "As much as I want to make love to you, to my wife, in our bed for the first time, I know we are about to pass out." Arizona lifted her head and kissed the soft skin just under Callie's jaw line and asked, "How about you just hold me?" Callie kissed her forehead and answered, "I can definitely do that." Callie climbed over to her side of the bed, waited for Arizona to get settled, then pulled her into her arms. Arizona lifted her head, nibbled on a plump red lip before slipping her tongue inside and deepening the kiss. Before they could get carried away, she pulled back, rested her head on her wife's chest and slipped her hand under her shirt to feel her smooth warm skin.
Thinking about Callie's concerns about returning to Seattle, Arizona asked, "How do you feel after seeing everyone? Are you okay?" Callie ran her hand through soft blonde curls and replied, "I was nervous at the idea of seeing them all, worried about what they would think about seeing me like this, us getting married again, but they were all so receptive to everything. It was good seeing them. I didn't realize how much I missed them. At the same time though, I also realized how much I love it here, how much I love our life now. It was good to see them but…" Arizona nodded in understanding and finished, "It will be good to get back to normal. I love our life here too." Callie smiled, happy to hear the other woman say that. She closed her eyes and relaxed into her wife's touch knowing she could be asleep in minutes. Arizona was half asleep herself, but she kept thinking of something and never found the right time to ask, finally she whispered, "What made you decide to propose and have the surprise wedding?" Callie was waiting for this question, lowered her hand to rub Arizona's back and answered, "Lots of things really. I always knew I was going to; from the minute we got back together. Honestly, I thought I could hold out. I planned to wait until your birthday, I figured six months would be a good amount of time. Then, the closer we became, I knew I didn't want to wait that long, so then I thought I'd do it on my birthday. When we started talking about kids and our future and everything, I realized I didn't want to wait. We already thought of each other as our wives, we knew we were headed in that direction. Do you remember that day when Addie was here and I was outside in the garden alone?" Arizona nodded and Callie continued, "That's when I decided to ask you sooner. At first, I was just going to ask you to marry me at your opening ceremony." Arizona picked up her head and furrowed her brows in question.
Callie smiled at the adorable look and explained, "That patient I had to talk to Meredith about, I was inviting them to your opening, I wanted them all to be here for you. Honestly, I wanted them all to see we made it. The next day, when my parents came by, my mom told me I was nearly 40 years old and I sounded ridiculous saying I had a girlfriend." Arizona snickered at that and Callie smacked her butt. "I told her I intended to ask you to marry me and she asked me why wait to get married if we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. I realized she was right and figured it would be great if we could have all of our friends and family there. I called your parents, asked for permission and it just took off from there. I knew I wanted a big wedding; I kind of figured you would and you confirmed it a few days later. I got everyone on board and they all helped me figure out how you could plan your wedding without knowing you were planning your wedding. Jordyn sent me the pictures of the gown, I sent it to the others, they went to local shops, got their measurements and sent them back. Herman came up with the idea about the cake tasting and my mom came up with the idea about the menu." Arizona saw the gleam in the rich brown eyes and observed, "You're pretty proud of yourself." Callie smiled and responded, "Yup!" Arizona placed a hard smacking kiss on her lips and whispered, "Thank you, for all of it. For being so thoughtful, for loving me, for wanting to marry me again…for everything." Callie tilted her head, kissed her softly and whispered, "Thank you for saying yes, for trusting in me, for giving us another chance, for believing in me." Arizona lowered her head, brushed their lips together and responded, "I love you Mrs. Robbins-Torres." Callie kissed her again, pulled her back down on her chest and declared, "I love you too Mrs. Robbins-Torres." Both women let out a contented sigh and were asleep in minutes.
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Early the next morning, Arizona emerged from the bathroom to find Callie sitting on the side of the bed preparing the syringe for her last shot. Her heart started racing knowing this was the final step. While she knew if she were going to get pregnant, she probably already was, but this steroid would assist with the implantation of the egg. She waited for Callie to finish, then climbed into her lap wrapping her legs around her waist and her arms around her neck. Callie smiled, rested her hands on slim hips and husked, "Well hello there." Arizona captured her lips in a soft kiss, pressed their foreheads together and whispered, "Good morning gorgeous." Callie could see the excitement dancing in the blue eyes she loved so much and asked quietly, "Are you ready?" Arizona popped her dimples, nodded her head and murmured, "Stick it in Dr. Robbins-Torres." Callie chuckled, ran her tongue across the seam of her lips and moaned when she was immediately granted access. As their tongues tangled together, she could feel Arizona's body relax in hers, slowly snaked her left hand around, caressed her ass with the small pad she was holding in her hand, gripped it firmly, brought her other hand around, deepened the kiss, then stuck the needle in swallowing the whimper that emanated from the smaller woman. Slowly pushing down the plunger, she pulled it out, rubbed the affected area, pulled back, and asked, "How's that for bedside manner?" Arizona rubbed her hip and responded, "It was perfect."
Callie capped the needle, tossed it on the bedside table and maneuvered them so they were lying on the bed. She rubbed at Arizona's hip and asked, "So what now?" Arizona shrugged and responded, "So now we wait." Callie muttered, "Yeah, because I'm so good at that." The blonde chuckled, climbed on top of her wife and soothed, "Its only two weeks, it will go by quickly." Callie wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, rested one hand on her hip, caressed her back with the other, inhaled deeply and responded, "I know. I just…I keep thinking of your baby belly and I get so excited." Arizona smiled down at her wife and asked, "So you'll still love me when I'm all fat and waddling around the house?" Callie got a goofy grin on her face and responded, "Oh, I'll love you double baby." She wiggled her eyebrows making Arizona laugh out loud and reply, "You're such a weirdo." Callie lifted her left hand, wiggled her finger and reminded her, "I'm your weirdo." Arizona placed a hard smacking kiss on her lips and declared, "Damn right you are. Come on wife, let's take our first married shower at home together before the kids wake up." That goofy grin crossed Callie's face again and she proclaimed, "I like the sound of that." Arizona rolled off the bed and asked, "The shower or the kids?" Callie sat up, tilted her head as if she had to think about it and laughed when she got hit in the face with a pillow. Sliding off the bed, she grabbed Arizona around the waist and asked, "Can't I like both?" Arizona let out an exaggerated sigh and said, "I guess, if you must." Callie tapped the hip opposite of the one she just jabbed with a needle and followed her wife into the bathroom.
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Arizona walked into Erin's room with two cups of coffee to find Larry sitting at her bedside holding her hand once again. She cleared her throat so she didn't startle him, passed one of the cups to him and without so much as a hello, he asked, "How are they? Can you wake her up?" The blonde smiled and looked down at the chart, double checked the notes Dr. March left for her and answered, "Everything looks good. The girls' heart rates started to even out around midnight and Dr. March stopped the sedation medication at 6:00 am, so it should be wearing off and Erin will be waking up soon." Larry breathed a sigh of relief and Arizona asked, "What about you? Did you get any sleep?" Larry took a drink of the coffee, took a deep breath, then apologized, "I'm sorry, thank you for this. I slept on and off. I woke up every time they came to check on her." Arizona took a drink of her own coffee and informed him, "I have a patient coming in at 9:30, that gives you thirty minutes to go down and grab something to eat. I'll stay here the whole time, I promise." The man looked at his wife then to the surgeon who had taken such good care of all of them, nodded his head and replied, "I think I'll do that. Thank you Dr. Robbins-Torres." Arizona nodded, took the seat he abandoned, and read the chart for her next patient.
About twenty minutes later, Arizona heard movement and looked up to see that Erin was starting to wake up. She sent a text to Dee asking her to find Larry, then stood up and poured a glass of water knowing her patient would need it when she tried to talk. Erin opened her eyes and smiled when she saw her surgeon standing by her bed. She looked around for her husband and heard, "I made him go eat. He's been by your side all night long." Erin nodded and opened her mouth to say something and started coughing. Arizona pushed the button to raise her head slightly, held the straw to her mouth and directed, "Small sips." Erin did as she was told and croaked, "How are the girls?" The fetal surgeon smiled and responded, "They are perfect. They all cooperated amazingly well. No one argued with me and they are just beautiful." Erin chuckled at that and asked, "So you got the tumor?" Arizona nodded, "I got the tumor, I was able to correct the HLHS and given there are no further complications, you will raise three happy healthy babies. I want to keep you here for a week, then we will have you come in weekly for tests, depending on how you are feeling, I'll be putting you on bed rest at around 28 weeks." Erin nodded in understanding and asked, "How's Larry?" Arizona laughed and answered, "Oh, he's a mess." Both women laughed then laughed harder when the man in question ran right past the room then hit the door on his way in. Out of breath, he panted, "You're awake." Erin smiled at her husband and confirmed, "I'm awake." Arizona moved toward the door and told them, "I have a few appointments today, but I'll be in and out to check on you." They both waved at her and she made her way down to her first appointment.
Arizona just finished admitting her second patient of the day when she heard peals of laughter coming from the conference room. She walked in to find Nicole and Julie nearly in tears because they were laughing so hard. Julie looked up and tried to catch her breath as she gasped out, "Hey Arizona." Nicole was still chuckling when she looked in the direction of the door and greeted, "Hello Robbins-Torres." Arizona arched her brow and asked, "What's so funny?" That got the two started all over again and the older woman explained, "I was telling Julie I needed her to work harder in PT because the kid who I paid to put my groceries away nearly killed me." Julie started giggling again and Arizona asked, "And how is this funny?" The young girl explained, "She ate dog treats for breakfast." Arizona couldn't contain her own laughter and asked, "How?" Nicole shook her head and replied, "Damn kid put the box of dog treats in the same cabinet as my cereal. I poured a bowl this morning added a little sugar, poured my milk, and as soon as I took my first bite, I realized why Shep was barking at me like he usually does when I give him his treats." All three women started laughing again until Julie gasped and grabbed her stomach.
Arizona rushed to her side and started feeling around asking, "What is it? Where does it hurt?" Nicole put her hand on the girls shoulder and said calmly, "Take a deep breath, count to three, let it out. Okay, tell us what you feel." The young girl grabbed the older woman's hand, put it on her abdomen and waited for a few minutes. Arizona watched as a smile unlike she had ever seen before made it's way across her mentor's face and she whispered, "He kicked me." Julie laughed, "He kicked, that's the first time I really felt it." Nicole kept her hand where it was and asked, "When was your last ultrasound? Are you getting enough to eat over there? You shouldn't be eating hospital food with a baby. Is Torres taking precautions with your PT?" Julie patted the hand on her stomach and swallowed the lump in her throat at the questions. She knew the older woman was a baby doctor, but she wasn't acting like one, she was acting like she really cared. She nodded her head knowing she couldn't be seen and replied, "Arizona checked me…what two weeks ago?" She looked at Arizona and saw her nod and continued, "Two weeks ago, I'm getting plenty to eat between you and Lorraine bringing me snacks and food, and Dr. Torres…Callie, she makes sure a nurse or someone is with me during PT and I am always hooked up to a baby monitor." Arizona smiled at that piece of new information, though she wasn't surprised. What was surprising was her friend's reaction and interest in the young girl.
"Robbins…Torres, did you hear me? Take Julie to get another ultrasound. We need to make sure the baby is growing properly." Julie looked from one doctor to the other and asked, "Should I be worried? Should I have felt him earlier?" Arizona took the girl's hand and answered, "No, no honey, not at all. This is about the time you should be able to feel actual kicks. One of the perks of working with fetal surgeons is you get to see your son whenever you want and nervous Nellie over there is just being overprotective." The older woman scoffed but she knew the blonde was right and had no idea what had gotten into her. She'd felt hundreds of babies kick, somehow, this one made her feel something different. Deciding she'd think about that later, she huffed out, "Oh just do it. What else do you have to do?" Arizona chuckled and responded, "Well, I just admitted one patient with fetal hydrops and another with possible spina bifida. I also have an appointment in twenty minutes. But I have time to…" Nicole cut her off saying, "No, I want a complete work up, put her in your schedule for tomorrow and check with your wife to see how much longer these casts need to be on and how taxing the therapy will be." Arizona eyed her mentor curiously and just decided to agree with her for now, smiling at the teenager so she didn't become concerned, she nodded and replied, "You got it. Julie, why don't you go make an appointment with Dee? Tell her I'll stay late if I need to." Julie nodded and left the room.
Closing the door, Arizona walked back to the table, sat next to her friend and asked, "What is all this about?" Nicole sighed and responded, "She doesn't have anyone. There's no one to be happy with her or for her, no one to worry about her, no one to take care of her except doctors." Arizona leaned back in her chair, studied the older woman, and realized she knew exactly what that felt like because she experienced the same thing when she had her tumor. Nicole had no family. Finally she asked, "So are you just empathizing with her or…" Nicole shook her head and responded, "I don't get it Robbins, ugh…Robbins-Torres…" Arizona laughed, "You could call me Arizona." Nicole snorted and continued, "I don't get it, I've felt hundreds of babies kick, I've been around pregnant women my whole career. This one, this kid, she's different, she's got something, I don't know, I just…" Arizona smiled and finished, "You care. It's called caring Nicole." The older woman chuckled, nodded and responded, "I blame you." Arizona let out a bark of laughter and asked, "How is this my fault?" Nicole sat back and thought for a minute then answered honestly, "I never had any family, never needed them. Nobody ever cared until you. You cared if I lived or died. You cared that I didn't contact you. That…it made me care. So yeah, I care about this kid." Arizona smiled, stood up and responded, "I'll take care of her and talk to Callie." Nicole nodded and asked, "Can you send the kid back in? We have a class coming in soon." The blonde shook her head agreed and left the room.
By 1:30 in the afternoon, Arizona was sitting at her desk looking at scans and could barely keep her eyes open. She had finished with her appointments an hour ago, ate lunch and sat down to look at the results of the tests she had run on the patients she admitted today to figure out a game plan but couldn't stay awake. These last two days had been a whirlwind. By the time everyone left and she and Callie finally settled into bed, it was nearly 2:00 am and she had no idea what time they went to bed the night before. Looking down at her left hand, she decided maybe she should take a little walk across the street, get some fresh air, and wake herself up.
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Callie stood over the scrub sink, splashed water on her face and looked up when she heard someone come through the door. Maria handed her a towel and declared, "You look like hell. Wife keep you up late?" Callie chuckled and replied, "I wish. I think it was after 1:00 am when everyone finally left and I've been in here since 8:30 am." The head nurse made a face and said, "Ouch." Looking at her watch, she suggested, "You've got a couple hours until afternoon rounds, why don't you sneak off to your little room and try to get in a nap?" Callie nodded and answered, "Yeah, I think I will. I'm exhausted." Maria left the room and Callie walked to her private on-call room, took off her shoes, scrub top, and pants, leaving her in a tank top and boxer briefs and crawled into the over-sized twin bed. She groaned in relief when her head hit the pillow. Her entire body ached from standing over the patient for 5 hours and all the physical activity from the last two days. She smiled when she thought about what some of that activity included. Closing her eyes, she conjured images of her wife and started to drift off to sleep.
Arizona swiped the card Lorraine gave her across the keypad and quietly opened the door so she didn't disturb the sleeping form she could see lying on the bed across the room. Noticing the clothes lying on the floor, she shed her own, lifted the covers as well as her wife's arm that was slung haphazardly across the mattress, and carefully slid into the bed in front of her. She smiled when the strong arm instantly tightened around her and soft warm lips grazed her neck. Even in her sleepy state, Callie could feel Arizona's presence and pulled her closer. She kissed her neck and whispered, "Hey, what are you doing here?" Arizona linked their fingers together and whispered back, "I'm taking a nap with my wife, shhh, she's sleeping." Callie smiled and drifted off to sleep once again. Arizona listened to Callie's soft snores and allowed them to lull her to sleep as well. Before long, the two surgeons were snuggled in one another's arms with nothing but their deep even breathing filling the room.
A/N: Oh my gosh! You guys are awesome. We made 1,000 reviews. I so wanted to give you a special chapter for that and for Sara's birthday, but they both snuck up on me. Thank you so much for all the love and appreciation you show for this story. It means so much and it really does keep me going.
Mondlerfankay, thanks for the idea about the clothes, it wasn't exactly what you suggested, but you threw it out there, so thanks.
I do not own any of the original characters from Grey's Anatomy nor the stories told by those characters when they were reminiscing. If I did, you would be watching this instead of reading it.