Feeling a tap on her shoulder and the gently whispered, "Calliope," in her ear, Callie instantly sat up, turned to her wife with one eye still closed and held out her hands, knowing exactly what was needed of her. Arizona placed her leg in her wife's capable hands, watched as she slid it on, pushed the buttons to seal the socket, kissed her cheek, then lay back down and snuggled under the covers. If she weren't in such a hurry, or wasn't certain it would cause an accident, Arizona would laugh at the idea that the ortho surgeon could expertly don her prosthetic leg literally in her sleep. Feeling the vacuum seal lock into place, she rushed from the bed into the bathroom without bothering to close the door. Arizona let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and along with it, the giggle she had been holding in. This had become their middle of the night ritual since the babies shifted, pushing against her organs as they grew, throwing off her balance, and making her no longer feel safe on crutches. What made her giggle though, was the thrill, the ease at which asking for help came to her now, the lack of fear or hesitation, the normality of it all. Normality, which to her, meant the ability to live her life without feeling like she were a burden; something that took her a long time, a great deal of therapy, and an enormous amount of trust in herself and her wife, to achieve.
As she finished up and washed her hands, Arizona looked at her reflection in the mirror, lit only by the soft nightlight they kept there for her safety, and briefly studied her naked form. The irony wasn't lost on her that she was so thrilled about the routine they'd established when at one time she wouldn't even allow her wife to look at, let alone touch her leg. The question of what if it were this easy back then, niggled at the back of her mind occasionally and she had to fight it off knowing that so many other things came into play that made it nearly impossible…the biggest being acceptance of her own body. Shaking those thoughts, the negativity from her mind, Arizona looked in the mirror again and smiled when she saw that her face was filling out just a little, her breasts were substantially larger in preparation for nourishing their babies, her swollen belly was beginning to harden, the skin starting to stretch across it, and though she teased that she was getting fat and too big, she realized that she agreed with her wife, she looked beautiful, radiant. She felt beautiful and radiant. Her skin glowed, her hair shone, and in all honesty, she found herself even more attractive in her pregnant state, felt sexier than she ever thought she would. These were the things she focused on now, the things she thought she'd never feel, never experience and they far outweighed the fears she thought she'd have or the hormones that coursed through her body and this was what kept her happy and perky rather than a raging hormone casserole.
Not being able to fully relax into her deep slumber until Arizona returned to the bed, Callie chuckled to herself when she heard the loud sigh coming from the bathroom. She was slightly confused by the giggle, but as long as it wasn't a cry of pain or distress, she wouldn't ask questions. Feeling herself start to drift off, Callie became concerned when she heard the toilet flush and the water running a few minutes ago. Just as she started to get up to check on her wife, she saw her shuffling back into the room. Feeling the slight dip in the bed, then finally the warm body line up against her own, Callie cuddled closer, slipped her arm under Arizona's neck and draped the other over her side, snaking her hand between her breasts. Kissing her pale shoulder softly, she mumbled, "You okay?" Arizona covered the hand on her chest, linked their fingers together, wiggled her behind further into Callie's mound, and purred, "I am now." Both women moaned softly and quickly drifted back to sleep.
XXXX
The next time Callie awoke, it was naturally and gradually, taking her time to revel in the feeling of waking in her lover's arms. She distinctly remembered falling asleep wrapped around Arizona from behind, but based on their current position, she could tell that at some point in the night they had shifted. Presently, her head was tucked under Arizona's chin, her cheek lying right above her soft full breast, her taut round belly pressing against her own, strong pale arms holding her close and their legs tangled together. Finally blinking her eyes open, it took her a couple of minutes to adjust to the light coming through the closed blinds. She became accustomed to waking up in the darkness of the early morning or at least to the grey skies of winter, then realized the light was probably a result of the morning sun glaring off the freshly fallen snow. She smiled thinking about how excited both of her girls were yesterday at the idea of seeing snow again and couldn't wait to spend the day with them outside as a family preparing for their first Christmas together since Sofia was just a baby.
Thinking of babies, feeling the firm stomach flush against hers, hearing her wife's soft snores above her head, Callie decided maybe she could sneak in a private conversation with her triplets. She didn't mind Arizona listening in and she usually always caught at least part of the conversation anyway, but she loved the idea of just the four of them having some bonding time, especially now that she knew they heard her and responded to her voice. Carefully untangling herself from Arizona's tight grip, Callie slid down her body, under the covers, laid several soft wet kisses on the alabaster skin of the protruding baby belly and whispered, "Good morning my sweet baby loves. You're so lucky to be all cuddled up and warm in there, especially today since we are going to be spending a lot of time out in the cold and snow looking for our Christmas tree. I know you don't know about any of that stuff yet, but it is a very special holiday for many people. For us though, for our family, it is extremely special. This Christmas is the first one mommy, Sofia, and I will be spending together in a long, long time and I am so happy and excited to be a family again." Callie stopped for a moment while that reality set in with her and the warmth filled her heart as it finally caught up to her that this was the end of her lonely holidays wondering what Arizona was doing and wishing things were different. Though they'd talked about it last weekend, it felt more real as the days went on and more preparations were made.
Callie kissed Arizona's stomach again, caressed her soft skin, and continued, "Another thing that makes it special is that you are here with us and even though you aren't born yet, no rush by the way, just stay in there as long as you need to…even though you aren't here yet, we know you are coming and that makes us so very happy. I guess if I am being honest, Christmas came early for me this year because I have everything I could ever ask for, everything I've wanted for so long. I wanted my wife and your sister back and got the extra bonus of mommy wanting to have another baby and we ended up with three. I can't imagine anything that would make me happier than I already am, my life being more perfect than it is now. I'm sure your mommy would say chickens would make it better, but I still don't think I'm ready for that talk yet. You know, now that I think about it, this year is just the first of a long line of special Christmases because starting next year, you will be here with us. Once you are born, there will be so many firsts to experience, times three."
Callie smiled when she felt nimble fingers run through her hair and watched as the smaller pale hand lowered to intertwine with hers as it rested on the side of the growing belly. She placed a gentle kiss to the outie belly button when a groggy voice declared, "You'll have so many first holidays next year, your first smiles, your first laughs, the first time you lift your heads, roll over, push yourselves up, and mama and I will be there together to see it all." Callie brought their linked hands to her mouth, kissed Arizona's palm and confirmed, "We most certainly will and we will be there every day after that, together, supporting you and making new traditions as a family with you and Sofia."
Arizona was woken, as usual by the kicks and tingles and knew without looking that Callie was talking to their unborn children. She must have just changed the inflection in her tone because the babies were going crazy. When she finally woke up enough to focus on the conversation, she heard her wife excitedly talking about their first Christmas and other things they will experience over the course of the next year. She couldn't help but chime in as the thought of all those firsts flooded her mind as well. Feeling Callie kiss her hand, she rubbed her bare back, tugged on her fingers and whispered, "Come say good morning to me." Callie shimmied her way up Arizona's body, making sure their skin rubbed together all the way up, hovered over her with her palms resting flat on the bed, and teased, "Aww is somebody wanting attention?" Arizona lifted her hand, cupped the back of Callie's neck and declared, "Somebody wants her morning kiss before it is interrupted by a very excited 8 year old." She then pulled her head down and connected their lips, giving the other woman no choice but to respond to the kiss, which quickly became heated as tongues darted out and tangled together.
Breathless, Callie broke the kiss but continuously brushed their lips together until she finally lifted her head, looked into twinkling blue eyes and whispered, "Good morning beautiful." Arizona wrapped both hands around Callie's neck, pulled her back down for a softer, slower, more sensual kiss, and replied, "Good morning my gorgeous, amazing, sexy, wife." Callie arched her sexy brow and hummed, "Mmm somebody's in a mood this morning." Arizona caressed Callie's back, slid her hands down strong muscular arms, then back up to play with the stubble on the back of her head and replied, "I woke up to hear my wife talking to our babies, I am spending the day with my family picking out a Christmas tree and doing things we've planned but have never gotten to do before, so I am in a mood, a good mood, an affectionate mood. I feel excited, thankful, and so, so, so happy that I could burst with joy." Arizona looked up into dark chocolate eyes overflowing with love for her, watched the most brilliant mega-watt smile take over the stunning face before her and her heart nearly melted when she heard the deep husky voice reply, "I have no idea what chance we are on, but I am so grateful that we've been lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to get it right this time." Her eyes stinging from the tears she was fighting; Arizona simply nodded her head in agreement. She knew they were damn lucky, blessed, and was more than grateful to be in Callie's arms, in her bed, in her world, most importantly in her heart, once again.
Callie lowered her head, brushed their lips together one last time and suggested, "How about we shower together, then make a whole day of it? We can go out for breakfast, head out to the North Pole Tree Farm, then hit up the Christmas Craft Barn and see where the rest of the day takes us." Arizona caressed her smooth caramel cheek, smiled brightly and replied, "That sounds amazing. We haven't had a family day in quite a while. I'm sure Sof will be over the moon." Callie rolled out of bed, walked around to Arizona's side, sat down next to her and asked, "What do you prefer?" Arizona took Callie's hand in hers, reached for her leg, and requested, "Could you help me put it on then take it off before we shower?" Callie smiled, she loved when Arizona chose to be her natural self in front of her, but she also knew it was a little harder to stay balanced now, so she was fine with whatever her wife chose. Quickly putting her leg on, she helped Arizona up, followed her to the bathroom, and they began their morning routine while she turned on the shower to heat up the water.
XXXX
By the time the two women had made it out of the shower and were fully dressed, making sure they'd worn plenty of layers, they heard squeals of laughter and barking coming from outside a realized Sofia must already be awake and outside playing with Henry. Arizona went to the patio doors, opened the blinds, dropped her jaw in shock, and exclaimed, "Well I'll be damned, Calliope, come look at this, hurry." Callie put down the brush, rushed to the window, and couldn't believe what she was seeing. She looked down to see that Arizona had pulled out her phone and asked, "What are you doing?" The blonde looked back at her and whispered, "Blackmail, hush." The two looked on as Addie, Henry, and Sofia lay in the snow making snow angels while Tobin bounced around them barking happily and kicking snow in their faces making them giggle. After recording for a minute or two, Arizona put her phone in her pocket, then leaned into Callie and sighed wistfully. Callie looked down at her very pregnant wife, could see the longing in her eyes, went to the closet to grab their boots and coats, and declared, "Well come on then, they can't have all the fun!" Arizona instantly perked up and asked, "Seriously?" Callie smiled brightly, she loved when those dimples popped just for her, slipped into her boots, helped Arizona with hers, then her coat, and returned, "Seriously." She put on her own coat and laughed, trying to catch up to her wife, who was already out the door.
Sofia shrieked when she saw her mommies coming outside all bundled up walking toward them, carefully got up so she didn't disturb her angel, then rushed to them and asked, "Are you going to play with us? We made snow angels, are you going to make snow angels too?" Arizona pulled her daughter's hat down over her ears and replied, "You made it look like so much fun, we couldn't resist." Sofia jumped up and down, clapped her mittened hands, spraying snow up into her parent's faces making them sputter, then ran back to the others and declared, "Aunt Addie, Henry, my mommies are going to make snow angels too!" Addie sat up, smiled sheepishly, shrugged, and defended, "If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em." Callie laughed heartily and replied, "Funny, you don't look like you were dragged kicking and screaming." Addie held up her hand that was covered with a mitten as well and Callie asked, "Are you flipping me off?" Addie cocked her head and replied, "Yup!" then lay back down and continued to spread her legs and arms out to finish her masterpiece.
Callie and Arizona found some fresh, untouched snow near Sofia, picked a spot, and Callie helped Arizona down, then lowered herself to the ground. As soon as they were settled, they both started flapping their arms and legs which caught Tobin's attention and made the pup stop what he was doing and circle around them barking and kicking up snow. They were all laughing and giggling, enjoying the first snow of the year, their children's excitement, and each other. Callie looked up at one point and saw Addison standing over them with her phone in her hand, either recording or taking pictures of her and Arizona. Sitting up, she asked, "What are you doing?" Addie smirked and replied, "Blackmail." Callie laughed, looked at her wife, smirked, looked back at her friend, and quipped, "We got you first, so go right ahead and use it." The redhead huffed and stomped away…and that's when it started…the greatest snowball fight of the year. While her back was turned, someone…a person who will neither claim nor be blamed, hit Addison right in the middle of her back with a very well packed snowball.
Feeling the blow to her back, Addison turned around and glared, only to see all four of her companions happily continuing with their snow angels as if nothing happened. Glaring at Arizona, who she assumed was the culprit, she proclaimed, "Oh, it's on now!" She bent down, made a perfectly formed snowball, and hit the blonde in the leg, purposely avoiding her stomach. Defending her wife's honor, Callie immediately grabbed a handful of snow, made a larger snowball and hurled it back at her friend's arm. Addie grabbed her shoulder as if she'd been shot and whined, "All of us don't break bones for a living, pull back killer." Callie laughed, realized her friend was right and tried to ease up a bit. Deciding he had to save his mom, Henry joined in and started firing at Callie, then Sofia tossed snowballs at Henry, and Arizona and Callie both attacked Addie. Watching from the window, sipping on his coffee, laughing at the antics, Jake finally decided his wife needed her knight in shining winter coat and joined in the battle.
Seeing how many snowballs were flying around, Callie called a time out, ran to the garage, looked around frantically, found what she was looking for, ran into the back yard, handed Arizona the lid of a trashcan to protect her stomach, kissed her on the cheek, and called out, "Okay, proceed." Addie looked at Callie, blinked, and declared, "You've got to be kidding me. You got her a shield?" Callie looked back at her wife, who was smiling softly at her, touched by the gesture, and asked, "What? I had to protect my bab…" While the brunette was caught off guard, Addison ran toward her and tackled her to the ground. Her victory was short lived however, when the ortho surgeon quickly rolled them over and started tossing loose snow onto Addie's face. The snowball fight then turned into a wrestling match as Henry and Sofia joined in to help their mothers. Jake and Arizona both decided to sit this one out and stood by as their wives and children rolled around the ground with the dog barking around them trying to join in on the fun while also trying not to get squished.
Finally tiring out, both women sat up, looked at one another and declared, "Truce!" at the same time. They helped each other up, looked at one another and saw that they were covered with snow from head to toe and broke into gales of laughter. Arizona and Jake both stood on the patio with their phones in hand, capturing pictures of the entire event. He turned to the blonde, smiled and stated, "Thanks for asking us to come out here. I think this is exactly what we both needed and Henry is having a blast. He told us Sofia is like a sister to him." Arizona hooked her arm through Jake's and replied, "We love having you here and though Addie and I give each other a lot of shit, I adore her and wouldn't trust anyone else with my babies or my center." The man nodded and answered, "I see that. She respects and loves you too and didn't even have to think twice about coming out here." He nodded toward the two women who were still laughing at each other and commented, "And those two…" Arizona snorted and replied, "Yeah, it's been ten years and I'm still trying to figure that one out." He laughed at that and suggested, "We'd better let you get on with your day, there's a lot to do out there and I know Sofia is excited to get started." The blonde nodded and replied, "Me too. It looks like we will have to get ready all over again."
Walking up to her wife and daughter, Arizona asked, "Are you two ready to go in and get changed so we can head out?" Sofia jumped up and down and without having to be asked again, ran toward the house. Stopping halfway, she ran back, threw her arms around Addison's waist and proclaimed, "Thanks for teaching me how to make snow angels and playing with us, it was fun." Addie bent down, kissed her cold little nose and replied, "Anytime sweet girl. Have fun and pick the biggest, prettiest tree you can find." Sofia smiled her mini mega-watt smile, exclaimed, "We will pick the best tree ever!" then ran back toward the house. Arizona turned and was about to remind her daughter to stomp her feet when she saw that she was doing just that.
Callie nodded for Henry to come over to her and asked, "How would you like to make a quick twenty bucks?" The little boy's brown eyes lit up and he asked, "Really? How?" Callie smiled and answered, "Well, we don't know how long we will be gone today and I'm worried Tobin will get sad and lonely and we don't want him to miss his lunch and dinner. Would you mind puppy sitting for him?" Henry looked up to his mom and asked, "Can I?" Addison scowled at her friends, then looked down at the little critter who seemed to know they were talking about him, and sighed, "Ugh, fine. But it's all your responsibility." The little boy jumped up and down and asked, "Can I go get his food and bowls and toys?" Addie chuckled at his enthusiasm and suggested, "How about you change first, then you and I can go over together so I can help you carry it all." Henry nodded at his mom and replied "Okay, I don't want to get their house all dirty."
The little boy looked up to Arizona and asked, "Aunt Arizona, you still believe in Santa right?" Arizona put on her most serious face, nodded, and replied, "Of course I do." The little boy reached into his pocket, pulled out a soggy piece of paper, handed it over, and asked, "Could you um…could you give this to him for me? When we saw him last week, I forgot to tell him I moved and I want to make sure he has my new address." Arizona took the wet piece of paper, opened it up and saw that the writing was all smeared and replied, "I will certainly do that, but how about you, Sof and I sit down tomorrow and write him a letter and you can both make your lists in case you forgot anything else and you can tell him your new address too." Henry nodded excitedly and asked, "We can do that? Will he answer?" Callie chuckled, knowing Sofia received a 'letter from Santa' every year and responded, "He sure does. Sofia has gotten a letter every year." They all watched as his face took on an expression of awe and wonder and he answered, "Wow! Okay, yeah. I'd like that." He gave the blonde a big hug and ran into the pool house.
Addison looked at her friends and muttered, "If you two do that damn elf on a shelf thing, I swear to all things holy…" Callie laughed, looked at Arizona and replied, "Looks like we need to pick up another elf today." Arizona suggested, "We already have two elves." Callie shook her head and replied, "Yeah, but Sofia knows that one is from your house and one is from mine. She will recognize them." Arizona nodded and replied, "Oh you're right. Henry should have his own elf anyway." The redhead threw up her hands and asked, "How the fuck did you carry out the same traditions when you weren't even speaking?" Callie looked to Arizona and replied, "That's the one thing we agreed on. No matter who Sofia was with, there would be as much consistency as possible, especially with the holidays and traditions. We didn't want her to miss out on anything or wish she was with one of us when she was with the other because we did something bigger or better." Addie nodded in understanding and replied, "Well, I can respect that." She then shooed her friends away and declared, "Now take your little traditions and sickening love crap and go have a nice day with your family." Both women laughed and made their way into their house.
XXXX
As soon as they entered the house, Arizona tossed all three coats into the dryer, went into Sofia's room and suggested she take a bath or shower to warm up before going out again. She then helped her daughter pick out some warm clothes for their afternoon adventure and reminded her to get her snowpants out of the closet in the mudroom. After getting Sofia settled, she went into her own room and found her wife had already laid out dry clothes for both of them and was about to step into the shower. Closing and locking the door behind her, she quickly shed her wet clothes, tossed them in the dirty clothes basket, and followed her wife into the steaming hot shower. Walking up behind her, she cuddled close, making Callie jump when her cool belly hit her warm back and squeal, "Shit, that was cold." Arizona smirked and retorted, "That was payback from last night." Callie pulled her under the hot spray, rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm her up and replied, "Well I guess I deserved that then." Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's neck, leaned up on her toes for a kiss and murmured against her lips, "But I really enjoyed warming you up." The brunette brushed their lips together and replied, "I promise I will return the favor and warm you up tonight." Having showered and washed each other thoroughly earlier, the two women just enjoyed holding one another while the water fell from above and the steam rose around them.
By the time they were layered up and piled into Arizona's SUV, it was lunchtime and all three of them were starving. Callie looked to Arizona and winked before asking "Where should we go for lunch?" Without hesitation, Sofia asked, "Oooh can we go to Tom's? They serve breakfast all day and have all kinds of different syrups." Both women laughed at the response they knew their daughter would give and Arizona answered, "Sounds good to me, but I'm thinking I want something hot and spicy…" She bit her bottom lip, looked Callie up and down lasciviously, then added, "Maybe I'll try the chili." Callie dropped her head at her wife's flirtatious behavior, shook it back and forth, and muttered, "You're going to kill me woman," then backed out of the garage.
On the way to the restaurant, Sofia looked around her mommy's new car and asked, "Where will the tree go?" Callie winked at Arizona and replied, "It will go in the backseat silly." Sofia looked scandalized and declared, "But I'm in the backseat! Where will I go?" Arizona played along and shrugged, "You'll go on the roof of course." Callie nodded and assured her, "Don't worry though, I brought a tarp to keep you warm and plenty of rope so you won't fall off." Sofia looked out the window, narrowed her eyes, tapped her chin, pursed her lips, then asked, "Wouldn't it be a better idea if you put the tree on the roof and let me stay in the car? We wouldn't want mommy's new car to get all wet and dirty from the tree." Callie gasped, looked in the rearview mirror so her daughter could see her expression and replied, "You are so right! We will have to wrap the tree with the tarp. You remembered your snow pants right?" Arizona had to look out the window so her daughter wouldn't see her laughing. She had to bite the inside of her cheek when she heard the little girl reply, "OR you could ride on the roof and mommy could drive home." Still keeping her composure, Callie replied, "Mommy can't lift me and she doesn't know the way." Sofia tilted her head and argued, "You could climb up there and mommy has Siri." Pulling into the parking lot, Callie put the car in park, both women looked at one another, pointed and accused, "That's all you!" then they both burst out laughing. Callie finally looked at her daughter, who knew she'd won their little battle, and declared, "We were just teasing baby girl. The tree goes on the roof and you stay inside safe and sound with mommy and me." Sofia shrugged and replied, "I know, I saw a car pass with a tree on the roof right after I asked you where the tree will go." Arizona started laughing, rushed out of the car and claimed, "Damn it, now I have to pee," and disappeared into the restaurant.
While they were eating, the two women decided today must be the day for questions as their daughter was full of them. Sofia watched a mommy and daddy come in with a baby in a car seat and asked, "Who will carry the third baby?" Arizona looked at her daughter, confused by the question and answered, "I'm carrying all the babies in my belly." Sofia shook her head, pointed to the couple with the baby and explained, "Mama will carry one, you will carry one, but what about the third one?" Callie swallowed her bite of food, took a drink of her coffee, and explained, "Well, one of us could carry two babies." Sofia took a drink of her juice, tilted her head and asked, "What if one of you has to go to work and one of you has to take the babies someplace all by yourself?" Arizona smiled and replied, "We will have to use a stroller." Sofia looked to the ceiling, furrowed her brow and asked, "Do they make strollers that big? How would you get it through the door? What does it look like? Is it fat or long?" Callie looked at Arizona and blinked, she had no answer to that question. She'd never known anyone with triplets except Erin and had never seen her out with the babies. She hadn't even thought that far ahead and based upon the expression on her wife's face she hadn't either.
The blonde realized neither of them were certain of the answers to their daughter's questions, smirked at the little girl, took out her phone and declared, "Hey Siri, show me strollers for triplets." They all looked at the device when they heard, "I found this on the web." Arizona arched her brow and replied, "Apparently there are quite a few different types." Sofia watched as her mommy looked at her mama, they did that eye thing, tilted their heads, mommy shifted her eyes toward her, mama nodded, then asked her, "How would you like to help us pick one out since it was your idea?" Sofia smiled and nodded excitedly and the three of them spent the rest of their meal looking at strollers and discussing the pros and cons of each one.
Arizona had to admit, she was quite impressed with her daughter's thinking process. Callie looked over when she heard the little girl announce, "I think this one with the car seats is best because that way you wouldn't have to buy separate car seats and when they get older it turns into a wagon and has these seat thingies." Arizona raised her brows at her daughter, took the phone to take a closer look, passed it to Callie and suggested, "It has great reviews." Callie replied, "It also has the option to purchase extra bases so we wouldn't have to switch them out all the time." She leaned down, kissed her daughter on the head and Arizona passed the phone back and asked, "Will you pick the color?" Sofia gasped and asked, "Really? I get to pick?" Callie nodded and replied, "It's only fair since it was your genius idea and you picked the stroller." The little brunette bit the corner of her lip, scrolled through the different options, then decided, "How about the red one? It isn't pink or blue and it matches both of your cars." Callie and Arizona both smiled and replied, "I love it!" "The red one is perfect." Sofia handed the phone to Callie who put it in the cart, took out her wallet, added her credit card information, and purchased the stroller. Arizona looked at their little girl with pride and offered, "Thank you for thinking of that big girl." Sofia beamed and responded, "Thank you for letting me help." Both women looked at each other and without saying a word, knew they needed to remember to include their daughter on more decisions so she didn't feel left out.
XXXX
When they returned to the car and began their journey to the tree farm, Arizona opened her music app, found her favorite Christmas playlist, and put it on shuffle. As they drove, they sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Sofia sunk down in her seat again when her moms started singing songs she didn't know. She perked up when she heard an upbeat tune that she remembered hearing both of her mommies playing and singing a lot. She didn't know the words herself, but she liked the song. When the words started and just her mama started singing in the same pretty voice she used when they were at the wax museum, she understood now why they both used to sing it so much. It was another one of those songs that was special to them.
When Callie heard the first few notes of the Mariah Carey song, she recalled the first Christmas party they went to together where Owen pulled out his guitar for an impromptu sing along and later they all danced to the radio. She sang this song in Arizona's ear. She had the same song on her playlist and sang it on repeat every year, thinking about that night. Glancing over to her wife, she saw her looking at her with that knowing glint in her eye, reached for her hand and decided to use her serious singing voice as she started, "I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you." Arizona squeezed her hand and when the tempo picked up, she joined in, "I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need and I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace. Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day. I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you. You, baby." The couple sang through the entire song and just like the last time she heard her mommies sing to each other, Sofia realized how much they loved each other and how happy they were to be a family again.
When they got to the last chorus of Frosty the Snowman, Callie pulled onto a long dirt road that was lined with large striped candy canes interspersed with mechanical elves and they could hear Christmas music coming from speakers that were mounted on tall poles. Sofia's face was plastered to the window as she tried to take in all the different characters and scenes that were set up in the fields along the way. Arizona was as excited as her daughter and stared out the other side of the car snapping pictures with her phone. Callie drove slowly so they could take everything in and did her best to try to capture the sights as well. It was truly awesome, as her wife would say, and it was more impressive with the snow. When she reached the end of the road, she pointed up at the large log cabin decorated with lights, plastic icicles, mechanical reindeer on the roof and said, "Look, it's Santa's Workshop." Sofia gasped and asked, "Is that where he makes all the toys?" Arizona nodded and replied, "That's what it says." Sofia replied, "It looks so small." Callie quickly covered, "I think this might be his New York headquarters. I'm sure he has to have them all over the world." Sofia was bouncing in her seat and asked, "Can we get out now?"
Callie unbuckled her seatbelt, looked to Arizona, then turned to Sofia and explained, "Uncle Jake said there is a lot to do here so we should probably find our tree and get it cut down and loaded first, then we can spend as much time as you want doing the rest of the stuff." Sofia pouted for a brief moment then decided she wanted to get a good tree and was afraid someone else might pick the one she wanted and agreed with her mama, "Okay, we can get the tree first. What do we do?" Callie looked around, saw a few people walking away from a small shed with saws in their hands, others with trees on carts and pointed, "I think we go over there and someone will tell us what to do." Arizona looked back at her daughter, saw her snow pants lying on the seat next to her and gently suggested, "Put your snow pants on please. We will be trudging through the snow and it might take us a while to find the perfect tree, so you need to stay warm and dry." Sofia huffed in exasperation, she just wanted to get started already. She took off her coat and boots, pulled on her snow pants, then put everything else back on and asked, "NOW can we go?" Arizona arched her brow at her daughter's tone and Sofia looked down then mumbled, "I'm sorry mommy. I'm very excited to do all the things Henry told me about. Can we go find our tree now please?" Arizona nodded and replied, "Much better. Thank you. Yes, we can go now." Callie bit her lips to contain her chuckle, waited for her daughter to get out of the car and whispered, "That was hot." Arizona slapped her on the arm, muttered, "Shut up," and followed her daughter out of the car.
After a ten minute orientation on the different types of trees, Scotch Pine, Sugar Pine, White Spruce, Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce, Balsam Fir, Douglas Fir, Noble Fir, Fraser Fir, the drawbacks and benefits of each, which trees have short needles, which trees have long ones, which trees have softer ones, which trees take a lot of water, which trees don't need as much, and how and where on the trunk to cut them down, they were given a saw, a sled, and three ribbons to tag the trees they liked until they decided on one. Forty minutes later, they were still trudging through the snow, Callie carrying the saw, Arizona pulling the sled, and Sofia studying each tree carefully. Two of them would like a tree and the other would veto it, saying it was too tall or too short, too fat or too skinny, too pokey, or too crooked. Tired of feeling like they were going in circles, Callie stopped, looked at her family and suggested, "Okay, let's decide exactly what we are looking for." Arizona nodded and replied, "We've all decided we don't want a pokey tree." Sofia added, "And we don't want a short tree." Callie asked, "But how tall do we want? We haven't picked a tree topper yet, so we have to keep that in mind." Arizona looked at her wife and declared, "You're 5 foot 9 inches tall, so maybe around six feet." Callie nodded and added, "I'd like to have a full tree, not something really fat, just full." They all agreed and Arizona pointed to her left and recalled, "The man said all the types of trees with softer needles are over here, so lets start there." Callie nodded and followed her wife.
Within ten minutes of walking up and down the rows of trees, all three of them stopped to look at a dark green almost blue colored tree that was just a few inches taller than Callie, had a near perfect pyramid shape, it's branches were sturdy enough to hold lights and ornaments, and the needles were soft to the touch. Sofia whispered, "That's the one." Callie smiled and agreed, "That's the one." Arizona stepped between them, took her wife's hand, linked her fingers, ran her gloved hand through the ends of her daughter's hair and confirmed, "That's our tree." Looking down at their daughter together, back at the tree, then at one another, Callie and Arizona smiled, and leaned in for a sweet chaste kiss, understanding the importance of this moment. It may seem odd to many people, but to them, the couple who dreamed about this moment eight years ago and never got the opportunity to follow through, it meant everything.
Callie pulled the sled over, lay down on it, rather than on the cold ground, and started sawing through the trunk while Arizona held the tree still for her. Within a few minutes she had cut clean through the trunk, stood from the sled, helped Arizona lay the tree on it, and the happy family returned to the front to pay for their tree. Once they arrived, the attendant looked at what they deemed to be the perfect tree and commented, "Ahh, a Douglas Fir, excellent choice especially for pets and little ones." Callie smiled at her daughter and replied, "Well we have both." Then she looked at Arizona, placed her hand protectively over her stomach and added, "Looks like this will be our tree of choice for the future as well." Arizona linked their fingers, rested her head on her shoulder, feeling just a little tired after their morning in the snow and their adventure in tree hunting. The man smiled, told them the cost of the tree, processed the payment, cut off the end of the trunk, ran the tree through a machine that wrapped it for them, grabbed a ball of twine and asked, "Where are we headed?" Callie pointed to a bench and suggested to Arizona, "You look a little tired. You and Sofia go rest, I'll take him to the SUV and come back for you." The blonde sighed in relief, took her daughter's hand, and headed to sit down.
XXXX
Deciding they all needed a little time to rest and warm up, the trio went into the large building labeled, "The North Pole" which was abuzz with activity, ordered some hot chocolate and sat down to rest and decide what they wanted to do first. Callie pulled a small round piece of wood out of her coat pocket and Arizona asked, "Is that the piece he cut off our tree?" The brunette nodded and replied, "Yeah, apparently there's a booth in here somewhere that will make it into a customized ornament for you. They will either burn or paint something onto it. Whatever we choose." Arizona picked up the small piece of wood, loving the idea and tried to think of something unique they could do and maybe follow through with for years to come.
After finishing their cocoa, they decided while the line was short, they would take Sofia to visit Santa. While their daughter was sitting on the jolly man's lap telling him everything she wanted for Christmas, Callie looked at the older, heavier, man with the long white hair with a slight wave to it, sporting a real beard that fell just below his collar, leaned over and whispered, "They don't mess around at this place, he looks authentic." Arizona nodded and agreed, "I mean, I believe in magic and all that, but this place is a little too real even for me." Callie laughed, saw that Sofia was almost done and the photographer was taking her picture, then asked her if they could join her for a family photo as well. With Santa's approval, the two women joined their daughter and they took their first family Christmas photo with Santa since Sofia was a toddler. After purchasing their pictures, they found the booth for the customized ornaments and chose to have it painted with a winter scene with three snow people painted on it, each one signifying one of them with the same hairstyle and color, eye color, and their favorite colors for their scarves. On the back, they found it only fitting to have, 'Our second first Christmas' painted on the back. After being given a time to come back and pick it up, they walked around and discovered all the activities Sofia could participate in.
Fortunately, several of the activities provided seating or at least had benches nearby so Arizona could rest. Their next activity consisted of making a personalized ornament. They had a variety of photo props from which Sofia chose an elf hat and ears, had her picture taken, and while it was being printed, she chose a small wooden frame from a variety of wooden shapes and was able to paint and decorate it however she pleased. Choosing to sit together on a bench near the table to give their daughter a little space as requested so she could surprise them, Callie slapped her hand over her face and groaned when she saw one of the elves hand their daughter a large bottle of glitter. Arizona whined, "Whyyyyyy? Do people not realize glitter is the devil's creation?" Callie chuckled and looked at her wife in disbelief. Arizona held up her hand and cut her off before she even said anything, "Name one thing I own that I purchased that is glittery or has glitter on it? I may have things that are bright, colorful, shiny, even have sequins, but I have never bought anything with glitter!" Callie opened her mouth to argue, thought about her perky wife's belongings for a minute, snapped it shut, opened it again, and sagged in defeat, admitting, "Okay, you're right." Arizona tapped her cheek and murmured, "Say you're sorry." Callie laughed, kissed the soft pale cheek and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Deciding they had picked the perfect seat to keep an eye on Sofia as she moved from one activity to the next, Callie and Arizona stayed on their bench and looked on as their daughter made Christmas cards for her grandparents and Tia Aria, a paper chain to hang in her room, decorated a Christmas cookie, assembled her own wooden ballerina, created an advent calendar by sticking pieces of wrapped candy to Santa's beard with a countdown to Christmas, then went to a table a little further away where they could see her but not what she was doing, and finally after nearly an hour and a half, she returned to them with a decorated bag containing all of her creations. Callie reached for the bag and asked, "Can we see what you made?" Sofia held it tightly and replied, "You have to wait until we get home. Some of it is a surprise." Both women chuckled and Arizona asked, "Is that everything then?" Sofia nodded and Callie suggested, "Let's go pick up our ornament and head out." Arizona linked their fingers, took Sofia's hand with her free hand and they walked back to the booth just in time to see the artist removing their ornament from beneath the drying light. All three of them cooed over the cute picture and for reasons she didn't have words for, Callie felt the lump forming in her throat and did her best to fight off the tears she knew were just on the cusp of falling.
Once they made it to their car, Sofia was reminded that they hadn't visited Santa's Workshop yet and asked if they could go in to see what was inside. As both women suspected, it was a gift shop full of overpriced toys, souvenirs, and Christmas decorations. Taking out her wallet, Callie handed Sofia a ten dollar bill and stated, "This is all you get, unless there is sales tax. Choose wisely." While their daughter perused the toys, Callie and Arizona looked through the shirts and decorations and both decided on a cute frame for their family picture with Santa. Looking up to locate their daughter, instead of finding her by the toys, she was looking at the snow globes, leaning close, knowing she couldn't touch them. Arizona walked up behind her and asked, "Do you see one you like?" Sofia nodded and pointed to the one right in front of her then said softly, "But I don't think I have enough." Arizona looked at the decoration her daughter pointed to and smiled as she realized why she liked it so much. Inside the glass ball was a decorated tree in the center and standing next to it was a little brown haired girl in a pink coat making a snowman with a brown and black dog digging in the snow. She looked at Callie and mouthed, "Twenty dollars."
Callie saw the snow globe and she too understood why her daughter was so drawn to it, looked at the bill her daughter was holding in her hand, staring at it like she was wishing the numbers would change, took out her wallet and asked, "Hey Sof, is that the money I gave you?" The little girl looked up to her mama with sad eyes and nodded, "Yeah." Callie furrowed her brow and asked, "Did you spend some?" Sofia shook her head and replied, "No, this is all you gave me." Callie asked, "Are you sure? I thought I gave you a twenty." Sofia's eyes started to brighten and a hint of a smile played at the corners of her lips as she answered, "No mama, I promise, I didn't buy anything." Callie pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet and asked, "You wanna trade?" Sofia nodded excitedly then looked at her mommy and asked, "Do I have enough now?" Arizona smiled brightly and replied, "You sure do big girl. Would you like me to carry it to the counter for you?" Sofia replied, yes please, then turned and gave Callie a big hug and whispered, "Thank you mama." The brunette hugged her little girl tightly and murmured, "You're welcome baby. Let's go check out now."
XXXX
After leaving the tree farm, Callie drove a few miles down the road and pulled into a nearly full parking lot that held not one but two huge barns, one painted a bright red and the other a Christmassy green. Both were decorated with lights and garland and huge blow up characters flanked the sides of the massive buildings. Though Arizona didn't often take advantage of her handicap plate, she had been raising less of a fuss since she'd gotten bigger and she tired out faster. Pulling into one of the closer parking spaces, they saw that there were also tents set up outside, along with a few food trucks parked around the edges of the parking lot. When they got out of the car, the most delicious aromas wafted through the air and Arizona proclaimed, "We are definitely getting some of whatever that is before we leave." Callie laughed, knowing her wife's appetite had doubled but she'd tried to keep to normal portions and added a couple snacks between meals except for her weird cravings and of course her special treats. She looked over and asked, "Are you hungry now? We can get something before we get started." Arizona shook her head and answered, "I'm actually reenergized now that we sat for a while. Maybe we can walk through one barn, take a break to eat, then go through the other." Callie looked to Sofia and asked, "Are you hungry yet?" The little girl shook her head and replied, "I'm still full from all the pancakes." Both women laughed and started walking toward the red building first.
When they approached the entry way, they glanced into the tents and saw that there were tables set up with homemade or handcrafted ornaments and decided to take a look on the way out. As soon as they entered the building, they were enveloped in the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas. Lights, garland, and decorations were hung from the rafters, classical Christmas music was playing, loud enough to hear but not overpowering, and the combined scents of cinnamon, peppermint, evergreen, freshly baked cookies, a wood stove, and hot chocolate permeated their senses. Sofia was walking between her mommies holding their hands and didn't know where to look. Everything was so pretty and smelled so good. There were cookies, candy, ornaments, toys, wreaths, Christmas sweaters, costumes, signs, pictures, and she wanted to stop and look at everything. Realizing they stopped at the first table they came to, Sofia danced around with excitement when she saw the frosted cookies in the shapes of Santa, reindeer, snowmen, trees, wreaths, presents, and they were all so big, almost as big as her face! She looked at her mommy who was tapping her finger on her lip, meaning she was trying to make a choice, then at her mama who was laughing at her mommy because she knew she couldn't say no to sweets.
Callie laughed when Arizona stopped at the first booth which happened to be full of cookies, fudge, and candy. The blonde always had a sweet tooth but since she became pregnant, it seemed to have multiplied just like their babies. Arizona looked back at her wife, knew she was laughing at her, flashed her super-magic smile, batted her eye lashes, then squealed when she heard a faux pained sigh followed by, "Go ahead, but you'd better share." Arizona looked down at her daughter and suggested, "You pick one first big girl." Little doe eyes widened as she studied each cookie looking for the biggest one with the most frosting then pointed, "May I get that one? The pink present with the purple stripes and bow." Arizona nodded to the person behind the counter, chose two cookies for herself, then declared, "My wife will have a quarter pound of the rocky road fudge please." She looked back at Callie and winked, knowing exactly what she preferred and her heart skipped a beat when the big toothy grin was aimed in her direction.
As they walked through the barn looking at all the hand crafted work, Callie asked, "What would you think about getting a sign with our last name on it? We could hang it over the garage, or if we don't want it seen by everyone passing by, maybe in the back yard somewhere." Arizona tightened her grip on their linked hands, nodded, and exclaimed, "I love that idea." Callie smiled and offered, "I think I saw a place a couple booths back, let's go see what they have." They returned to the booth where the signs were made while you shopped and after deciding on a size and design, Arizona let Callie take care of the ordering. When she turned around, she saw the most beautiful sketches and got an idea. Looking down at her daughter, she pulled her aside and whispered, "I need you to distract mama." Sofia smiled and asked, "Are you going to buy her a surprise?" Arizona nodded and whispered, "I am. Do you think you could tell her you have to go to the bathroom or you are thirsty or something? Then I'll pretend I'm too tired and I'll wait here for you." The little girl nodded, blinked at her mommy with both eyes, thinking she was winking, then walked to her mama, tugged on her hand and pulled her down so she could whisper, "I need to go potty and I'm really thirsty." Callie chuckled and teased, "Well doesn't one defeat the purpose of the other?" Sofia glanced at her mommy, then started to dance and whined, "Maaaaama. I have to go." Callie saw her daughter was in distress, looked around and saw a sign for the bathroom way down at the other end, looked at Arizona and asked, "Do you need to go too?" The blonde shook her head and replied, "I'm good. But if it's okay, I think I'll just wait here." Callie nodded, kissed her cheek and answered, "Of course it is. There are some benches right there if you need to sit down." Arizona smiled softly, then watched as her wife quickly dodged and weaved through the crowd to get their daughter to the restroom.
Waiting until she could no longer see them, she went to the booth and asked, "How do you do these sketches?" The young lady looked up, smiled brightly and replied, "I can either do live sketches right here, or you can text or email me a photo, and I'll print it off and use it as a model." Arizona nodded and asked, "What sizes do you do?" The woman replied, "I can basically do any size you want. If you want it framed, I just cut the matte to fit the closest size of frame." Arizona smiled, took out her phone, showed her a picture and asked, "First, I need to know if you are willing to do this photo. Secondly, can you do it so it's not seen by the masses? Finally, can you do a 12 by 18 and when can you have it done?" The woman looked at the picture, held out her hand and asked, "May I?" Arizona passed her phone over, slightly embarrassed, until the artist complimented, "This is a beautiful image, I'd love to sketch this. I can certainly do it and I could have it done today. But I am assuming it is a gift for your partner and I'd like to take my time on this. I can do it in my studio and ship it to you in a couple of days." Arizona looked a little worried, then relaxed when the woman handed over her card and assured her, "I am a professional, I have a real studio and have work hung in galleries. The work I do here on the weekends is less expensive and less extensive, it's more of an affordable novelty for families and all my proceeds go to charities. I promise you this photo is in good hands." The blonde sighed in relief, nodded, then quickly made her order and passed on all of the information the artist needed.
Within a few minutes, Arizona saw Callie's head bobbing through the crowd and walked up to meet her. They continued through the rest of the red barn, stopping occasionally, choosing ornaments, small gifts for their friends or something for their centers, and mostly enjoyed looking at the offerings. When they got to the end, they smelled the delicious aromas of the food trucks once again and when they walked out, they saw four or five different trucks sitting at this end of the lot. Each of them deciding on the taco truck, Callie and Arizona decided aside from their tacos, they would get an order of nachos to share and the brunette ordered a side of a variety of peppers. Looking at the small cup she was given and knowing Arizona's newfound love for pickles and peppers and immunity to the heat, she looked at the man behind the counter and added, "Ah, can I add another one to that order please?" He tilted his head and warned in broken English, "You know those are hot." Callie nodded, looked around and replied in Spanish, "Mi esposa está embarazada y anhela cosas picantes. Ella come habaneros como dulces." (My wife is pregnant and craves spicy things. She eats habaneros like candy.) The man looked at her and asked, "¿La bonita dama blanca puede soportar el calor?" (The pretty white lady can handle the heat?) Callie looked down at herself, arched her brow and replied, "Como no lo creerías." (Like you wouldn't believe.) The man threw back his head, barked out a hearty laugh, tossed a couple extra containers of peppers on her tray along with an extra bottle of water, and stated, "Just for that, you get the peppers and water on the house." Callie chuckled, thanked the man, and carried their tray to her waiting family in the heated tent.
Once she sat down and passed out the food and drinks, Sofia asked, "Are we going home after this?" Callie tilted her head and asked, "Was there someplace else you wanted to go?" The little girl shook her head and replied, "No. I was just asking. I'm a little tired and I'm excited to put up the tree and watch our movie." Callie smiled, relieved to hear that her energizer bunny was ready to go home, she was exhausted and could tell Arizona was wearing down too. Like her daughter, her favorite part of decorating was when it was all finished and she and Sofia would make a bed on the floor, turn off all the lights, turn on the tree and watch A Christmas Story. She pursed her lips and wondered what Arizona did with her.
Arizona bit into her taco and wanted to cry when she heard that her daughter was ready to go home. She felt like she could fall asleep in the car and wasn't positive that she wouldn't. She figured by the time they got home; she would have her second wind and they could decorate the tree at least, make their bed…she wasn't sure she could do the floor this year, but cuddle up on the couch and watch their movie. She looked up at Callie and worried that she and Sofia may have done something different. At the same time they both asked, "What did you do after you decorated?" They laughed then and Sofia answered, "We made a bed on the floor and watched that movie with the little boy that wore the pink bunny suit." She then tilted her head, looked at her mommies and asked, "Why did you both watch the same movie with me?" She watched them look at each other and smile with that weird look in their eyes again and said, "Let me guess, it's something you used to do together before you even got married the first time." Callie laughed and replied, "You got it." Arizona asked, "Why didn't you ever tell us? You watched it twice every year?" Sofia nodded and answered, "I like the movie and I like that you both did the same thing." Callie leaned over, kissed Arizona's cheek and whispered, "I like that too." Arizona nodded and murmured, "I like it a lot."
After they finished their tacos, the blonde dumped an entire container of peppers on the nachos while Callie stared at her with her mouth open in shock. Shaking her head, she declared, "Honey, some of those are really hot." Arizona picked up a nacho loaded with toppings, including a slice of ghost pepper, popped it in her mouth, and chewed it as if she'd just eaten ice cream. Callie shook her head and joined her wife, the nachos looked too good to pass up and she could handle the heat as well. Once they were half way through, Callie finished her water and Sofia asked, "Mama, why are you crying?" Callie croaked out, "I'm not crying. It's just…these are a little hot." Arizona looked at her and smirked then asked, "Can't handle the heat Torres?" Callie narrowed her eyes, looked at both containers of unopened peppers, took the lids off, set one in front of each of them, proclaimed, "It's Robbins-Torres, and we'll see who's crying after this." Sofia's eyes widened and Arizona's narrowed as she stared down her wife. Her mouth was on fire and she knew she would have heartburn like none she'd ever experienced, but now she was challenged.
Callie declared, "We have to eat the same pepper at the same time. If you choke, cough, or spit it out, you lose." Arizona nodded and added, "If you take a drink of water you lose. You go first." Callie started easy and chose a Jalapeno, popped it in her mouth and watched as Arizona followed her lead. Hoping to finish quickly, Arizona picked up a habanero, popped it in her mouth and willed her eyes not to water as she tried to avoid chewing it and just swallow. Callie picked up the same pepper, gulped audibly, put it in her mouth and did the same as her wife, trying to keep the juices from hitting her tongue. Callie felt the burn all the way down her throat, picked up the ghost pepper, put it in her mouth and closed her eyes, hoping like hell she didn't choke. By this time, the man running the truck had come into the tent to collect trays and noticed the two crazy women staring each other down having a pepper eating contest. He watched the pretty blonde put the ghost pepper in her mouth and flinched, waiting for her to start choking and coughing. When she just chewed and smiled at the other woman, then picked another ghost pepper, he knew this lady was tough. He waved one of his co-workers over, pulled a twenty out of his pocket, nodded at the two women and claimed, "My money's on the blonde." His friend looked at the two women and replied, "No way! Let's go fifty." The first man chuckled and replied, "Deal."
They both stood and watched as the two women went head to head until they were down to three peppers each, both of them were sweating, sniffling, and they had drawn a crowd. The crowd didn't seem at all embarrassed to toss their money onto the table in favor of one woman or the other. Callie looked at Arizona and stated, "It's your turn baby." Arizona looked at the little plastic cup, picked it up, lifted it to her lips and tossed it back like a shot, putting all three peppers, the juice, and the extra seeds in her mouth at the same time. The small crowd and the two original men breathed out a collective, "Daaaamn!" Callie shook her head and muttered, "Fuck!" This was no longer a game between her and her wife. This was serious. This was saving face now. She could not lose a pepper eating contest to Arizona. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her cup, knocked it back, and knew that was a mistake. The juice went the wrong way and her nose started burning and as hard as she tried, she couldn't hold in the coughing that followed. Arizona jumped up with her arms in the air, high fived the few spectators who were rooting for her, then immediately went to Callie's side, helped her take small drinks of water until she could breathe, then both of them downed an entire bottle of water as well as the second the man from the taco truck was nice enough to provide.
When they were finally cooling down, both women realized there were four men standing at the end of the table collecting money. Being the longshot that she was, Arizona only had a few people who bet in her favor. The men seemed to have a conversation, turned their backs, then walked up to the blonde, handed her a stack of bills, and the man from the taco truck offered, "For your baby and your daughter. It's only right you get half of our winnings." Arizona shook her head and replied, "No really, I couldn't take this. We were just playing around." The man laughed and replied, "It's the most entertainment we've seen in a while. Besides, you and your wife will need at least a gallon of pepto bismol later." Both women laughed, shook the men's hands, thanked them for their generosity, then watched as they walked away. Arizona turned to Callie and asked, "Can we come back another day and go through the green barn?" The brunette nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm not feeling so great." They both chuckled and Arizona stated, "Not the smartest thing we've ever done." Callie looked at the cash in her wife's hand and replied, "Nope, but it was pretty lucrative." Arizona looked down, just then realizing there must have been about five hundred dollars in her hand and proclaimed, "That it was."
XXXX
After picking up their sign, deciding to get a wreath for the front door, and stopping at the nearest pharmacy for some heartburn relief, water, and milk, the little family was on their way back home. Arizona looked in the backseat, smiled softly, and whispered, "Not even twenty minutes on the road and she's knocked out." Callie chuckled and responded, we've had a long day, I'm pretty exhausted myself." Arizona stretched her left leg out, took out her phone, opened the app that controlled the sensitivity, turned it off, then released the socket, and sighed in relief as the pressure decreased. She rested her head on the back of the seat and admitted, "My leg is pretty sore, I don't know if I can be on it for much longer tonight. I'll just sit on the couch while you and…" "No, we will wait until tomorrow and decorate our tree as a family when we can all enjoy it. We are all extremely tired, I'm sure once I get out of the car my back and legs will hurt too, and Sofia is beat. You know when she wakes up, she will be cranky," Callie argued. Arizona pouted, "But we were looking forward to…" Callie interjected again, "We were looking forward to spending the day together as a family, finding a tree, taking pictures with Santa, buying Christmas decorations, and doing Christmas things, enjoying our daughter and each other together for the first time in seven years, and we did that. Besides, the tree has to settle. We can put it in the stand tonight, let the branches fall, and decorate tomorrow after we've all had some rest."
Arizona reached over, took Callie's hand in hers, linked their fingers and asked, "Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" Callie brought their hands to her mouth, kissed Arizona's hand and replied, "You show me or tell me every day in so many different ways." She looked over and asked, "So do we have a deal?" Arizona smiled and replied, "As long as we can take a nice hot bath together and you massage my leg." Callie rested their linked hands on her thigh and replied, "It would be my pleasure. I'll pamper you and do whatever you want." Arizona moved their hands higher up the muscular thigh and inward so she was barely touching Callie's mound and asked, "Anything?" Callie nodded and recalled, "I did promise you earlier that I would return the favor and warm you up." The blonde hummed, "Mmm that's right you did, didn't you." Callie moved their hands so she could concentrate and suggested, "I did. You need to be good until then though." Arizona pouted and replied, "Okay, but then I get to be verrry bad." Callie chuckled and claimed, "Damn I love you." Arizona returned, "I love you and I loved today." Both women sighed then and continued their ride home in comfortable, contented silence.
A/N: Thank you all for the great reviews. Here is a special bonus chapter for you. Our girls had a long eventful day. I tried to fit it all in one chapter, but the tree decorating will have to come next chapter.