Arizona let out a belabored sigh as she stared out into their darkened bedroom, listening to her wife's soft snores, willing herself to go back to sleep. She had no idea how long she'd been lying there awake, but what she did know, was that the tiny humans inside her were restless, her mind was racing with everything they had yet to do before their arrival, and neither appeared as if they were going to settle down anytime soon. Though she'd kept her prosthetic leg on that evening in case she had to move quickly…as quickly as possible, carrying all the extra weight, she didn't quite trust her balance, so she didn't want to get up on her own. She knew Callie would get up with her with very little grumbling, however between her nerves over the Catherine Fox Award, the stressful drive home from Boston and worrying about her and the babies, then preparing for Sofia's birthday, her wife had gotten very little sleep over the past week, and she didn't want to disturb her. So there she was, lying in the dark, practically immobile, with her type-A brain working overtime, conjuring a to-do list as long as her arm, while periodically experiencing sharp pains in her lower abdomen, which served as a harsh reminder of just how little time she had left to complete the as of yet imaginary list.
Giving up all pretense of falling asleep, she reached for her phone, pulled the covers over her head, and tapped on the screen, squinting as the bright light illuminated the darkness and pierced her tired eyes. She instantly felt a pang of guilt when she noticed she had a missed call and a text message from Aria. She was so exhausted by the time they got home, she had Callie help her change into something more comfortable and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She'd only woken up long enough to eat something at her wife's insistence and fell right back to sleep, which might explain why she was awake now. Reading the message, she smiled when she saw that her daughter was just wishing her goodnight and telling her not to have the babies without her. Reminded once again that she was so not prepared for the birth of her triplets, she opened her notes and instantly began tapping away, putting her nagging thoughts into writing. Though they had gotten most of the big things out of the way, they still had the smaller things they'd planned to do over the next few weeks, such as pack the hospital bag and diaper bag…which they had yet to purchase, wash and put away all the clothing and bedding, stock the changing table and bathrooms, finish unpackaging all of their smaller items they'd bought, take an inventory of the things they still needed, and contact the diaper service they'd chosen. Staring at the ever growing list, she huffed in frustration that she couldn't just pop out of bed and start tackling some of the tasks in that moment.
Feeling the babies start to move yet again, Arizona rubbed her stomach and braced herself for the muscle spasms in her leg that she knew would soon follow. As the jolt of pain radiated from the base of her spine down her right leg, her entire body went taut and she closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, trying not to cry out and wake her exhausted wife. She should have known, however, that Callie would be on high alert and even through the height of the pain, felt a soft smile cross her face as two strong hands firmly started massaging her leg and lower back. She sighed in relief when the pain began to subside and her body instantly relaxed, melting into the warmth of Callie's embrace as she curled around her and began rubbing soothing circles on her stomach. Her eyelids fluttered closed when she felt soft lips brush against the nape of her neck and she couldn't control the shivers that ran down her spine, nor the goosebumps that appeared on her skin as Callie's husky sleep-laden voice broke the silence when she asked, "How long have you been awake?" Knowing she would be scolded, however lovingly, for not waking her wife, Arizona replied, "Not long. I just can't seem to get comfortable." Again, she should have known her very astute wife would be aware of her every move and blushed in embarrassment when the hand on her stomach reached for her phone and a deep chuckle vibrated against her back as Callie replied, "Hmmm, just long enough to write out one of your famous lists."
Callie had been drifting in and out of consciousness for quite some time. She'd startled awake at the same time Arizona did with the first wave of pain and after realizing her wife wasn't going to rouse her, fell into a light sleep once again, though she was still alert enough to know Arizona hadn't fallen back to sleep herself. After years of sleeping beside this woman, she could tell she was deep in thought and needed time to process whatever was going on in that beautiful brain of hers that was keeping her awake. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything when she awoke again and saw the glowing light beneath the blankets. She knew then that her wife's brain was in overdrive, no doubt thinking about all the loose ends they needed to tie up, and she finally gave in to her innate need to make a list. When she felt her tense up however, she could no longer keep quiet and her own need to care for her wife took over and she reached out to help her through the pain which she assumed was a false contraction. She was slightly amused at Arizona's attempt to lie to her, both of them knowing full well she wouldn't buy it. As she held the phone up, reading the lengthy list, she couldn't help but chuckle at Arizona's petulant response, "So I'm a planner, sue me."
Propping herself up on her elbow, she leaned forward, placed a soft kiss on her wife's warm cheek, and asked, "How can I help honey?" Arizona struggled to turn around, huffed, and grumbled, "Ugh can you help me sit up?" Nodding, Callie sat up, helped Arizona into a sitting position, arranged the pillows so they were both comfortable, then wrapped her arm around Arizona's shoulder and asked again, "What do you need me to do?" Arizona exhaled slowly, rested her head against Callie's shoulder, and was surprised when her vision became blurred with unshed tears. She didn't know if they were from exhaustion, fear, frustration, or a combination of the three, but she couldn't fight them and just let them run down her cheeks. Seeing this, Callie lifted her hand, swiped away the moisture and soothed, "Talk to me baby, what's going on?" Burying her face in Callie's chest, Arizona mumbled, "There's just so much to do and we have no idea when they are coming and we thought we had more time and I can't do anything…I feel useless. I couldn't even help with Sofia's party."
Hearing the desperation in her wife's voice, knowing her temporary lack of mobility was feeding her biggest fears of losing her independence, Callie tightened her grip, pulled her closer, and ran her fingers through her tousled blonde curls as she tried to soothe, "I can't imagine what that feels like honey, but you aren't…you aren't useless." When Arizona snorted and tried to pull away as if she wanted to argue, Callie held tighter and continued, "No, you can't do the things you want to do, you can't just get up and tick the things off your list, but that doesn't make you useless. Like I said earlier…at Sof's party, you have the most important job right now and that is housing our tiny humans, keeping them safe and comfortable until they join our little family. I promise you this is only temporary honey. As soon as they come into the world, you will be able to do everything you did before. In the meantime, you have me to do all the grunt work. Together, you and I will knock those things off your list and have everything ready for our babies." Callie held her breath and waited for Arizona to put up a fight and slowly exhaled when she merely sighed in resignation and relaxed into her arms.
As she listened to her wife, Arizona realized that Callie understood exactly what was bothering her, not just the fact that they had so much to do, but the fact that she couldn't do it on her own and more importantly, she understood her underlying fear of not being able to do those things anymore…ever. Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply and replied, "I know, it's just so…irritating. I could have already had some of this done instead of just lying here." Callie kissed the top of her head, picked up the phone once again, and asked, "What is most pressing? Of all these things, what would ease your mind a little bit just knowing that it's done?" Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Arizona studied the list, and though in her mind, it all needed to be done as soon as possible, one thing jumped out at her and she pointed to the phone and answered, "That. If I had to pick just one thing, I would say I won't feel better until we have a bag packed for me and the babies but we haven't even picked out a diaper bag yet Calliope, and…we haven't washed any of their clothes or…" Callie cut off her wife's ramble in the best way she knew how, which was by capturing her lips in a slow, soft, reassuring kiss. When she pulled back, she quietly said, "Okay, we've already decided what outfits we want to bring them home in, they will need some pajamas and some onesies, we can gather those things in the morning and wash them first, then I will spend the day washing and drying…" She trailed off when Arizona started shaking her head and interjected, "I don't want you to have to do everything…" Callie held up her hand and continued, "While you fold and put them away. We can bring one of the office chairs with wheels into the nursery." Arizona pursed her lips, then couldn't help the smile that crept across them as she asked, "You've got an answer for everything don't you?" Callie leaned in, stole another kiss, and chirped, "Yep. I know you don't want me to do it all and yes, we could have done some of this sooner, but it is what it is now."
Arizona wanted to argue but again, she knew her wife was right. She opened her mouth to say as much when she noticed Callie had flipped back the covers and was starting to get out of bed. She grabbed her wrist before she could stand up and asked, "What are you doing?" Callie smiled softly, leaned back on the bed, kissed her wife's nose and answered, "Well, first I am going to go to the bathroom and I assume since you haven't woken me yet, you also need to go, or will soon enough, then I am going to help you back to bed and gather everything you tell me to so you can fold it and pack your bag. While I am doing that, you can pull up our wish list and decide which bag we want from the ten we have deemed worthy." She started to get up again when Arizona tugged on her hand, protesting, "Calliope, no. It's the middle of the night." Callie tilted her head and asked, "If you could, would you have gotten up and did it when you thought of it?"
Knowing she couldn't lie to her wife again, Arizona smiled sheepishly, nodded her head, and answered, "Yes, but you don't have to…" Callie cut her off once again with a kiss and murmured, "What I don't have to do is sit here and let you worry about something that we can take care of in just a few minutes. I know it's the middle of the night, but I'd rather do it now than in a few days when you are screaming in pain that the babies are coming and I have to scramble around and just throw whatever the hell I see into a bag and hope I have what you need because once we leave this house for the hospital, I'm not coming back again until my wife and all four of my children are with me." When Arizona still didn't look convinced, Callie added, "It will make us both feel better honey. I want to be prepared and right now I feel helpless too. There's not much I can do to make your pain go away, make you more comfortable, or help with your mobility, but this…I can fix, so please, let me?" At her wife's pleading tone, Arizona realized that Callie, ever the fixer, felt just as useless, and relented, "Okay, but on one condition." Callie smiled and replied, "Anything, you name it." Arizona tossed back the covers and declared, "I use the bathroom first." Callie laughed, rushed to the other side of the bed to help her wife up, and quickly assisted her into the bathroom.
Once they were finished with the necessities, Callie helped Arizona back into bed, relieved her of her prosthetic to give her leg a rest, and handed her the laptop so she could pick out a diaper bag. Waiting for the webpage to load, Arizona grumbled, "Ugh, things would have been a lot easier if we'd have just had a baby shower." Callie chuckled at her wife's words, still unable to reconcile this Arizona with the woman who once complained about these types of things. Seeing the smirk on her wife's face, Arizona knew exactly what she was thinking, and commanded, "Oh hush!" Callie laughed and dodged the pillow that was thrown in her direction and defended, "What? I didn't say anything!" Seeing the sadness in her wife's eyes, Callie picked up the pillow, tossed it on the bed, sat on the edge and asked, "What is it honey?" Arizona knew she was being silly and probably just a little hormonal but she couldn't help it. Keeping her gaze focused on her lap, Arizona picked at the comforter and shook her head as she quietly answered, "Nothing…it's nothing really." Callie reached out, covered her hands to still her fingers and soothed, "It's not nothing if it is making you sad. Please tell me baby."
Wrapping her fingers around Callie's, Arizona rubbed her thumbs along the backs of her knuckles and admitted, "I was kind of looking forward to a baby shower, that's all." Slightly surprised by her wife's revelation, though she knew by this point she shouldn't have been, Callie lowered her head so she could look Arizona in the eyes and asked, "Why didn't you say anything honey? We could have had a baby shower months ago. I just thought…I don't know, I guess I thought you might not want one." She lifted her hand, wiped at the lone tear that trailed down Arizona's cheek, then caressed her face and suggested, "We still have a little time…or…or some people wait until their babies are born so they can be there to meet their family and friends." Arizona sighed and revealed, "I didn't say anything because I overheard Max and Lorraine whispering about a baby shower at Christmas time, I guess I just thought…I don't know what I thought." Recalling that their mothers had intended to plan one and surprise them, Callie made a mental note to ask her mom about it at lunch, and answered, "We don't need anyone to throw us a shower, we are perfectly capable of doing it ourselves and if we plan it, we can make sure their aren't any of those stupid games." Feeling slightly better, Arizona let out a half-snort, half-laugh, lifted her head and asked, "Really? You would do that?" Callie lifted their hands to her lips, kissed the backs of Arizona's hands and responded, "Really. I would do anything for you to keep that gorgeous smile on your face. You just tell me when and it's done." Tugging on Callie's hands, Arizona pulled her closer, brushed their lips together and murmured, "I kind of like the idea of having it after the triplets are born, like a welcome to the family party." Callie stole another kiss, smiled softly and replied, "Yeah, I like that too." Resting their foreheads together, Arizona whispered, "I love you so much. Thank you for putting up with my crazy." Callie laughed and retorted, "We'll see who the crazy one is the minute you go into labor."
Both women laughed and Callie slipped out of the room to make some tea, hoping it would help Arizona relax and fall asleep. As she passed the nursery, she decided there was no time like the present, and went in to gather everything they'd need and throw it in the washer. As soon as she opened the door, she realized why her wife was so stressed. Though they had almost everything they needed; some items they'd chosen to purchase on their own, others given to them as Christmas presents, and most recently, the gifts given to them by their Seattle family, it was all still sitting in boxes and bags, scattered around the room which looked more like a storage closet than a nursery. Deciding she would most definitely tackle that mess in the morning, she collected the clothes and blankets they'd need for the hospital then carried it to the mudroom and started the washing process, using the special laundry detergent they'd been stocking up on. While she was waiting for the water to boil, she noticed some of the leftovers they'd brought home from the party sitting on the counter and decided to make a late night snack for her wife and babies.
Returning to the bedroom with a tray full of treats, she smiled when sleepy blue eyes danced with excitement as Arizona held out her hands and chirped, "Ooh birthday cake, gimme." Laughing lightly, she handed over the goodies then went to the closet and asked, "Okay, where should we start? Do you have a certain bag you'd like me to pack or would the carryon do?" Arizona thought for a minute, then perked up as she excitedly recalled, "Oooh, my Christmas present from Aria! We can use that beautiful designer bag and I'll definitely want those pajamas and the robe." Trying to think if she needed anything else, she wistfully added, "Hmmm, and my normal underwear. Pick something pretty." Happy that Arizona was excited about putting her sister's gift to good use, Callie chuckled and commented, "It sounds like you are just as eager to be your regular size again as you are to have the babies." Arizona pouted and muttered, "I'm excited to see my feet again and not just when I take off my leg." As if her wife needed a visual, Arizona reached over and picked up her leg, brandishing said foot in the air.
Shaking her head at her wife's silliness, no longer surprised by her little quips, Callie walked into the closet and dug around until she came out with the requested items. Laying everything on the bed, she went to the dresser, pulled out some of Arizona's favorite comfy undergarments, and tried to tamp down the tingling in her abdomen as she sifted through the more risqué items she hasn't seen on her wife in several months. Though she loved Arizona's body as it was now, full and round with her babies, she couldn't deny that she missed being able to hold her close, lie fully on top of her naked body when they made love, and… "Calliope, is something wrong?" Shaking the dirty thoughts from her mind, Callie croaked out, "No I'm…" Hearing the huskiness of her own voice, she cleared her throat and turned to find her wife staring at her with an amused twinkle in her eyes and a knowing smirk on her beautiful lips. Arizona folded the pajamas, packed them in the bag and wondered what was taking Callie so long at the dresser until she looked up and noticed that she was holding one of her lacy thongs in her hand, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. She fought the urge to gasp when Callie turned to look at her with darkening irises and her voice, when she tried to answer, was laden with desire and she knew exactly where her wife's mind had gone.
For the briefest of moments, she started to feel insecure about her body in its current state, until she recalled just how attentive her wife always was with her and how she never seemed to be able to keep her hands off her. Though they'd had to be more creative as she got bigger, one thing she couldn't deny was how active their sex life was throughout her pregnancy, so she quickly tossed her doubts aside, arched her brow and teased, "Looks like I'm not the only one who misses my pre-baby body." Quickly shaking herself from her lust-induced stupor, feeling slightly guilty, Callie shook her head, crossed the room, and rushed to assure, "No baby, I love your body just like…" Feeling more confident in herself, Arizona held out her hand, waited for Callie to put down the undergarments, linked their fingers together and soothed, "I know honey. I have never for one minute doubted how much you want or love me. If I'm being honest though, I do miss being my regular size, especially when it comes to you." Seeing that Callie was about to argue, Arizona rushed to finish, "I miss holding you close to me, I love how our bodies just fit so perfectly, I miss being able to be the big spoon, sitting behind you in the bath and washing your hair, walking up behind you and wrapping my arms around you."
Realizing that Arizona wasn't being self-deprecating nor doubting her own feelings for her, Callie sat on the side of the bed, absent-mindedly rubbed soothing circles on Arizona's stomach, and agreed, "Yeah, I miss those things too. Is that…can I say that?" Arizona looked into hesitant brown eyes, recognized the lingering traces of fear, realized why Callie seemed so worried, and was so quick to reassure her, and replied, "Yes, you can say that. It's not…this isn't the same honey. I know, even though I struggle too, I know this is temporary and though it might take me a while to get back to my normal weight, it's not permanent." Just as Callie started to visibly relax, both women startled at the hefty kick they felt, reminding them why they were up in the middle of the night packing a hospital bag. Callie smiled as she said, "No, it's not and if these guys have their way, it will be much sooner than we thought." Arizona closed her eyes, breathed through the lingering pain, and agreed, "Right. So, where were we?" Callie moved off the bed, went back to the closet and asked, "Would you like a few pairs of sweats too? I know you and you won't want to sit in your pajamas in front of your staff." Arizona sighed gratefully and answered, "Yes please, will you pack your…" She trailed off when she saw Callie was already taking her favorite hoodie off the hanger and folding it up. Laying the soft, worn sweatshirt on the bed, she suggested, "I'm going to pack up our toiletries then I'll gather a few of my things as well." She started to walk away, then turned and added, "Oh, I already put the gremlins' clothes in the washing machine while I was up."
Arizona placed the last of the items in the bag, lowered it to the side of the bed, and realizing how much better she felt just having that little task finished, she felt the tears flood her eyes again as she looked up to her wife and sighed, "Thank you Calliope, I know you'd much rather be…" Callie returned to the bed, gently sat on the edge, and interjected, "I'd much rather that my wife wasn't so worried, so anything I can do to relieve that stress is what I'd rather be doing. Now, did you pick a diaper bag…or two?" Arizona linked their fingers together, lifted Callie's hand to her mouth, kissed the back of it, and replied, "I picked two, one black and one red to match the car seats their sister picked out." Callie laughed, kissed her forehead, stood up once again, and declared, "I won't be long. Drink your tea and eat your cake." She then made her way into the bathroom to finish her task.
After placing everything she thought Arizona would want or need onto the counter, pouring shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel into smaller containers, and packing everything neatly into a toiletry bag, Callie returned to the bedroom just in time to find Arizona wincing in pain. Dropping the bag on the dresser, she rushed to the side of the bed, laid down behind Arizona, curled her body around her, and started massaging her leg and lower back as she quietly sang the lullaby which seemed to soothe her unborn children. Arizona closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the pain as she listened to her wife's silky voice fill the air with an oddly familiar cadence that she could only assume was a sweet lullaby. "Arroró mi niño, arroró mi sol, arroró pedazo, de mi corazón. Este niño lindo, se quiere dormir, y el pícaro sueño, no quiere venir. Este lindo niño, se quiere dormir…cierra los ojitos, y los vuelve a abrir." Feeling the babies start to settle, her entire body began to relax and she sighed in relief when the pressure on her spine finally subsided, the cramping in her leg stopped, and she knew the babies must have moved from their current position as she no longer felt that sensation of being full.
Closing her eyes, she reached for her wife's hand, linked their fingers, raised it to her lips, and planted a gentle kiss on Callie's palm as she murmured, "Thank you. That was beautiful, what does it mean?" Callie chuckled and replied, "The English translation doesn't quite flow as well, but roughly translated, Hush-a-bye my baby, Hush-a-bye my sun, Hush-a-bye oh piece of my heart. This pretty child, wants to sleep already, and the rogue dream, it doesn't want to come. This pretty child, wants to sleep already, he opens his eyes, and closes them again." Arizona smiled as she suddenly recalled why the tune sounded so familiar to her and declared, "You used to hum that to Sofia, I never caught the words though." Callie sighed and answered, "I did, mami used to sing it to me to calm me down and I…at the time, we weren't speaking and I couldn't bring myself to say the words, the wound was still fresh." Not wanting to dwell on those painful memories, Arizona squeezed Callie's hand and offered, "Well I'm glad you are singing them now because it appears to be the only thing that works to calm them down. I think he has moved away from my spine." Relieved to hear that she was able to help the pain subside if only for a while, Callie lifted her head, kissed Arizona's cheek and answered, "Good, I hate seeing you in pain. Hopefully you can rest now." She smiled as her wife's eyes fluttered closed and her breathing seemed to even out. Carefully reaching over, she turned off the bedside lamp and continued to rub Arizona's protruding belly until she too drifted off to sleep.
XXXX
Tucking the last corner of the crisp blue sheet underneath the small crib mattress, Callie stood up, looked around the ocean themed nursery, and smiled to herself, proud of everything she'd accomplished in the last couple of hours. The last time Arizona had awoken her needing to go to the bathroom, she was unable to fall back to sleep as everything on her wife's to-do list played through her mind along with her recent reminder of just how disorganized the nursery really was. She hated that Arizona felt unsettled and unprepared and knew this was something she could easily fix. She just hoped her wife wasn't upset that she did it without her. After she was certain the blonde had fallen into a deep sleep, she slipped out of bed, finished packing their bags, put the babies' clothes in a smaller duffel bag they had, made a pot of coffee, carried the bags to the car so they wouldn't have to worry about it when the time came, then proceeded to the babies' room to see what she could do to prepare it for its newest occupants. Fortunately, they'd chosen to have all of the cribs, dressers, changing table, and gliding rockers assembled by the delivery men when they had it delivered shortly after Marco and Miguel decorated the room. Unfortunately, however, they'd both been so busy, they just hadn't had the time to organize it until now. Even though Arizona left the center at lunchtime, she still came home and put in a full day's work on her research or lecturing virtually to Nicole's students. They'd been so consumed with making sure they had what they needed, working, spending quality time with Sofia, then the awards, that completing the nursery fell by the wayside.
In between loads of laundry, she'd spent the majority of her time checking the items off of Arizona's list; opening packages, assembling some of the smaller items like the mobiles, which now hung over each of the cribs, stocking the changing tables, inserting batteries, setting up and charging the baby monitors, organizing the closet and bathroom and putting the bedding, which coordinated with the ocean theme, on each of the cribs. Pulling out her phone, she added a few items to the list of things they still needed to purchase, picked up her now lukewarm cup of coffee, and started for the kitchen to get a fresh cup and start on breakfast before waking up her wife. She'd no sooner reached the entryway to the dining room when she heard her wife call out, "Calliope?" Hearing the concern and slight tremor in Arizona's voice, she set her coffee cup on the table and rushed back down the hallway toward their bedroom.
As soon as she reached the doorway, she rushed to the bed where Arizona was struggling to sit up, and asked worriedly, "What is it honey? Are you in pain? Is it the babies?" Sighing as she leaned against the headboard, exhausted from just that little bit of movement, Arizona flipped back the covers, revealing her even larger stomach and snapped, "What do you think?" Callie's breath hitched as she looked down at Arizona and noticed that not only had her very large baby bump shifted and dropped, but it had also grown, adding those five or six inches Addie had predicted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she ran her hand across the taut skin peeking out from under the soft sleep shirt, and asked again, "Are you in pain?" Relaxing instantly, Arizona sighed at her wife's soothing touch, shook her head and replied in a more gentle tone, "Not in any pain, just extremely uncomfortable and more than a little mortified. Honestly Callie, I didn't think I could get any bigger." Callie leaned forward, pecked Arizona on the nose and offered, "I'm sorry honey, you don't have much longer no…" She trailed off as Arizona's face contorted in pain and she sucked in a deep breath, staring at her with fear and panic in her eyes.
Continuing to caress her stomach, Callie coached, "Exhale honey, that's it, take a deep breath in, good, let it out now." Arizona did as she was told and felt the pain start to ebb with each exhale. As soon as the pain subsided, she asked, "What time is it?" Callie pulled her phone from her pocket and answered, "It's 9:39 am. Is this…was that a contraction?" Arizona shook her head then nodded and replied, "Yeah, I think so, I just don't know if it was a real one or not." Callie glanced at the patio doors and asked, "Should I go get Addie?" Pursing her lips, Arizona followed her gaze, then answered, "Let's wait and see if I have another one any time soon. I haven't really felt any pain since last night when I said I thought they were moving." She looked down at her stomach and chuckled, then declared, "Apparently I was right, it looks like they are all in position now." Callie looked around the room helplessly and asked, "What…um…what can I do? What do you need honey?" Arizona linked their fingers together and answered honestly, "Just don't…um, don't go far." Callie nodded and replied, "Of course not. I'm not leaving your side. Do you think you could eat?" Arizona chuckled then and answered, "Since the babies dropped, I don't feel that constant pressure on my internal organs and I'm starving."
Callie chuckled at her wife, who seemed to be perpetually hungry the last few days and asked, "Would you like to wait here while I go make breakfast or…" Arizona shook her head and replied, "No, I'd like to try to get up. I don't want to be confined to bed." As much as she wanted to argue, Callie knew Arizona needed to get up, if for no other reason than to prove to herself that she could. Arizona could see the debate waging in those beautiful brown eyes and prepared herself for an argument, she was relieved and more than a little surprised when her wife nodded, stood up, and reached for her prosthetic. Tilting her head in question, she looked at Callie and smiled when she explained, "If you aren't in any pain nor at risk of falling, which you aren't because I'm right here, there's no reason for you to stay in bed." Pleased once again that Callie understood her, knew her fears without having to voice them, Arizona reached out, gathered Callie's t-shirt in her fist, and pulled her down for a long, searing kiss.
Pulling back slightly dazed, the brunette smirked and teased, "That's one surefire way to make sure you DON'T get out of this bed Mrs. Robbins-Torres." Arizona threw her head back in laughter and retorted, "Well, that's also one surefire way to speed up my labor, so…bring it on Mrs. Robbins-Torres." Both women smiled sadly at one another and Callie sighed, "I guess it's going to be a while before we do that again huh?" Arizona nodded and answered, "I'm afraid so honey. My mind is willing, but my body…" Callie cut her off with a kiss and murmured, "Is as gorgeous as ever, but I'm just a little afraid of hurting you or them now." Arizona nodded in understanding and agreement, then watched as Callie gently slid her leg into the socket, and asked, "If you weren't already making breakfast, where were you?" Callie smiled brightly then and replied, "I was preparing a little surprise for you. Would you like to see it?" Nodding excitedly, Arizona held up her arms for Callie to help her up and answered, "I would love to see it."
Slowly making their way down the hall, Arizona leaned heavily on Callie for support and asked, "How long have you been awake?" Suddenly feeling nervous about Arizona's reaction, Callie murmured, "Ah, long enough to do a thing," as she stopped right in front of the closed nursery door. Arizona watched as she rubbed at the stubble on the back of her head, and her eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at her. Immediately recognizing her wife's nervous behaviors, Arizona had an idea of what she had been up to and a not too distant memory flooded her mind as she teased, "The last time we stood outside of this room like this, was the night we arrived in New York and you'd decorated this room just for me, with everything I loved. You were worried about my reaction then too, so I will tell you what I told you that night, I am sure I will love it." She reached up, pulled Callie's hand from her neck, squeezed it tightly and quipped, "Especially if it means we are a little more prepared for our babies." Callie sighed in relief, leaned down and kissed Arizona's cheek and confirmed, "We are and I will tell you exactly what I said that night, if you don't like it, we can fix it." She then opened the door and carefully ushered her wife inside.
Arizona's mouth fell open and curved into a surprised smile as she looked around the beautifully assembled room, which was barren and desolate just hours before. The plastic had been removed from the mattresses and the cribs were beautifully made, the changing table pad was covered with a matching sheet and the shelves were stocked with diapers and wipes, the small musical nightlight was softly playing Brahm's Lullaby and projecting sea animals onto the ceiling, the other lamps were assembled and sitting atop the dressers, the baby cameras were attached to each crib with the monitors nestled in their charging stations, and by the looks of it, all of the clothes, towels, and linens had been laundered and put away. Turning in Callie's arms, she wrapped her arms around her neck, as best she could, and declared, "It looks amazing, exactly as we'd pictured. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Callie caressed Arizona's face and asked, "Do you feel better now?" Arizona nodded and answered, "So, so much better, but I wish you would have…" Knowing what her wife was about to say, Callie cut her off with a kiss and defended, "I know you would have liked to have been in here with me, but you needed your rest." Rather than argue, Arizona conceded, "I did and so did the gremlins. Thank you Calliope." Callie replied, "You are very welcome. Let's go get you fed and we can take a look at that list of yours, see if there is anything else we can check off today." Arizona agreed and the two made their way into the kitchen, both feeling just a little lighter.
XXXX
Sipping her tea while Callie cleaned up the breakfast dishes, Arizona asked, "Have you heard from Sof yet this morning?" The brunette shook her head and answered, "No, I haven't heard from them since last night when she called to tell me Marco was making his rounds to pick up clothes for each of them and wanted to make sure I packed the right pajamas and a nice outfit for lunch with Abuela." Arizona laughed and replied, "Oh, Aria's got him wrapped around her little finger." Thinking about her older sister and the trauma she went through with her husband, Callie smiled and replied, "She does. He's a really great guy and he treats her well. I'm happy for them." Finally registering what Callie said about the clothes, Arizona gasped and huffed, "Oh my gosh, I forgot all about clothes and I didn't even know she called to say goodnight until the middle of the night when I read her text. I feel like the worst mother ever!" Callie wiped the counter and responded, "None of us thought about it, I think we were all so eager to see how Aria would deal with five hyped up kids all at once, we jumped at the chance." Arizona shook her head and responded, "I still can't believe she offered. Maybe we haven't heard from them because they tied her up to a chair with the bedding and now they're running wild in downtown Manhattan somewhere."
Both women laughed at the vision that popped into their minds, then their faces dropped as they realized that Aria was in no way equipped to deal with five kids and had nothing to keep them busy. Reaching for her phone, Callie quickly dialed her sister's number, turned on the speaker, then both women nervously stared at the device as it continued to ring. After the fourth ring, just as she was about to hang up, Callie flinched as her daughter's excited voice filled the room, "Hi mama! Where's mommy? Did she have my babies yet?" Both women chuckled and Arizona replied, "Not yet big girl. How was the rest of your evening? Did you have fun?" Sofia exclaimed, "Oh! We had so much fun. After my party, since we were all dressed up, Aunt Aria took us to a museum to see Uncle Marco's pictures. We had to be really quiet, but it was okay cuz everything was so pretty…" As their daughter continued to ramble on, Callie's eyes snapped to Arizona and she mouthed, 'Uncle Marco' and Arizona returned, 'Oh my God'.
They tuned back in as they heard, "Then we went to the store and got to pick out some games and snacks. When we came back to the hotel, we had a dance party and Uncle Marco brought all of our clothes and burgers and fries cuz we already had pizza at my party and he played games with us before he went home and Aunt Aria let us braid her hair and do her makeup and the boys painted her nails like Spiderman and Batman and I don't remember what else but we did a lot!" Both women laughed at their daughter's ramble and Arizona asked, "What are you doing now big girl?" They heard Aria say something in the background, then the phone went quiet as if it was put on mute, and Arizona arched her brow at Callie who asked, "Did our daughter just put us on hold?" Before Arizona could answer, Sofia returned saying, "We just finished eating breakfast. Aunt Aria let us order room service and she even let me give the man money when he brought it. We all had to take baths cuz Aunt Aria said we were stinky."
The two women laughed at that comment and Callie asked, "Does that mean Aunt Aria is ready to get rid of you? Is she there? Can I talk to her?" The phone went quiet again and Callie muttered, "What the hell?" She no sooner got the words out of her mouth than Sofia returned and answered, "She's helping Steven get dressed, then she said she is taking us someplace for a surprise. She asked if you could pick me up at Maria's on your way to meet Abuela and Abuelo for lunch." Wondering what on earth her sister was up to and how in the hell she still had energy after spending the entire night with five energetic kids, Callie looked to Arizona, who nodded and replied, "Ah, yeah little miss, we will be there. Tell Aunt Aria we need to pick you up by 1 o'clock so we can meet abuela and abuelo by 1:30." They both smiled when they heard, "Okay mommies, I love you. See you soon." They'd barely opened their mouths to reply when the phone went dead.
Slightly surprised at how smoothly things seemed to be going for her sister, Callie shook her head and looked up to Arizona and admitted, "I thought for sure we would get a call in the middle of the night." Arizona smirked and replied, "Well we were up." Callie snorted, sipped her coffee, and Arizona continued, "Honestly, I did too. I at least expected her to be ready to dump them off first thing this morning." Callie nodded and answered, "Yeah, me too. I'm relieved though, it makes me feel like we made the right decision." Arizona reached across the table, covered Callie's hand with her own and assured, "We did, but this just confirms that." Linking their fingers together, Callie laughed as she admitted, "Is it bad that a really big part of me wanted them to drive her batshit crazy?" Arizona tossed back her head, let out a loud bark of laughter and responded, "Oh, I hope not, because I wanted the same thing."
XXXX
Callie pulled into Maria's driveway and frowned as she noticed that Arizona had shifted yet again, trying to get comfortable, and wondered about the merits of sitting in a stuffy restaurant on those uncomfortable chairs. Reaching out, she caressed her wife's stomach and offered, "I'm sorry honey. I should have called my mom and cancelled. It's not too late. Why don't I just ask them to meet us at the house and we can order in?" Arizona shook her head and answered, "I'm fine honey, I am uncomfortable no matter what I am doing. I'm not in any pain and haven't had any more contractions." Callie argued, "That's just the point though, you are uncomfortable and we could have just as easily invited them to our house." Arizona covered her hand and tried to soothe, "Calliope, I'm fine. I don't feel like sitting at home and waiting for the babies to come. Besides, this is the first birthday Sofia has had with your mother, being at home isn't special. Now, come around and help me out because your gremlins are sitting on my bladder." Conceding that her wife was right and it did her more good mentally to get out and do things, Callie nodded, hopped out of the car and ran around to help Arizona out.
Once they reached the front door, Callie rang the doorbell and called out, "Hurry up Santos, my wife has to…" Fortunately for her, Maria answered the door before she finished her sentence. Based upon the glare Arizona was focusing in her direction, she didn't want the world to know the ins and outs of her bladder functions. Stepping aside, Maria let them in and said, "Sofia is downstairs watching a movie with Henry and Bella. Come on in and I'll go get her." She led them down the hall and just as they turned the corner they were greeted by a surprisingly large group of people who stood in the living room whisper-yelling "Surprise!" and throwing multicolored confetti at them. Still unsure what was happening, they turned to stare at one another and Arizona watched as a shimmery piece of pink confetti fluttered around in front of her face and landed on her protruding belly. Looking down, she noticed it was in the shape of a baby bottle, then looked back up and it finally registered that they had been tricked into attending their own baby shower.
Callie glanced around the room, which she now realized was decorated from floor to ceiling with balloons and streamers in a rainbow of colors along with several large mylar balloons in the shapes of rattles, strollers, and extremely large, freakishly weird babies with blonde hair and blue eyes. Along one wall, sat a large table piled with presents, another held what appeared to be a diaper cake and several packages of cloth and disposable diapers, and stood before them were their closest friends, several doctors and nurses from each center, and front and center were both of their mothers. Seeing her mother, Arizona let out a sob and instantly fell into her outstretched arms, crying, "You lied to me!" Feeling rather emotional herself, Callie pulled her own mother into a tight hug, and whispered, "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us." Lucia pulled back, wiped her own tears, then caressed her daughter's cheeks and answered, "I think I do mija. It means just as much to me to share this with you."
Sofia squirmed her way through the crowd and danced around them teasing, "We got you! Only Aunt Addie told us we couldn't yell because she didn't want to deliver babies in her nice dress. Were you surprised?" Arizona laughed at her daughter's ramble, picturing her friend saying those exact words, and answered, "We sure were big girl! You were in on this?" Sofia nodded and chirped, "I was! I even got to help pick the food. I think you'll like it." Callie bent down, picked up their daughter, held her so they could both kiss her little cheeks and proclaimed, "I'm sure if you picked it, we will love it." Michael walked up beside her and teased, "You'd better love it, I slaved away all night on this. I even missed my best girl's birthday party because of it." Arizona gasped and asked, "This…this is what you were doing?" The older man winked and replied, "It is. Of course it wasn't meant to happen until next week, but…" Maria interjected, "Actually, it was supposed to happen last week, but someone had to go and win the Catherine Fox Award." Callie shook her head and asked, "What?"
Lucia looked at her daughter and explained, "Initially we planned it for last weekend, but we had to cancel because of the awards. We didn't think this weekend would be good because of Sofia's birthday party, so we planned it for next weekend. When Max told us the babies could come any time now, we really didn't have a choice but to change it again." Looking at her mother-in-law, Callie narrowed her eyes, and accused, "You and Daniel weren't going to breakfast were you?" Barb smiled, shook her head and answered, "No dear, we were already in New York when you called, just about an hour away." Arizona shook her head and asked, "But how did you…" Trailing off, she looked up just in time to see the two culprits slipping toward the back of the room and called out, "Oh Dr. Montgomery, Dr. March, have you not heard of a little thing called doctor-patient confidentiality?" The group, primarily made of medical personnel, erupted in laughter and Max rushed to explain, "We thought we had more time!"
Arizona wrapped her arm around Callie's waist, leaned into her, then looked at all of the people still gathered around them and said, "Thank you all for coming, it means so much to us that you are here to help us welcome our babies into the world." She then looked up at Callie and her voice trembled as she continued, "You truly are our village and we feel honored and privileged to have you in our lives." Maria stepped up then and announced, "Since we kind of sprung this on the expectant parents, lets give them a few minutes to settle in and look around. In the meantime, please visit the different stations we have set up around the house and help yourselves to the drinks and appetizers in the kitchen."
When Maria finished with her announcement, and the guests dispersed throughout the house, Arizona remembered why she was in such a hurry to get inside, turned to Callie and whispered, "I still need to use the restroom." Realizing her wife had been holding it all this time, Callie's eyes widened in panic as she wrapped her arm around her waist, looked at their friends and family and muttered, "Excuse us for just a minute." Watching them rush down the hall as quickly as Arizona could go, Addison whispered, "See, now aren't you glad we didn't yell at them? We would have scared the piss out of her." They all chuckled then sobered as they watched the couple continue down the hall and Lucia commented, "She looks bigger than she did yesterday. Is she…is that possible?" Addie took a sip of her punch, nodded, and explained, "It looks like they've all dropped into position now. I don't know how she's still walking to tell you the truth." Barb gasped and asked, "How much longer?" Max shook his head and answered, "Let's just say that I heard the doctors and nurses from our center making bets that she'd be leaving in an ambulance." Seeing the two women turn the corner, Barb looked at Addie and Max and whispered, "Don't let her out of your sight." They both shook their heads and replied, "Not a chance."
Once they returned, Callie looked around at her friends and family again and asked, "So who do we have to thank for all of this?" Lorraine laughed and replied, "Well, it was sort of a group effort. Maria and I had intended on throwing you a baby shower since we found out Arizona was expecting." Barb added, "Lucia and I have also been planning a baby shower and over Christmas, we all started talking and realized we were on the same page and decided to put our heads together." Maria glared at Max, pointed at him and declared, "Then this one and his husband got involved and well, here we are." Arizona looked around the room and asked, "Where's daddy and Carlos?" Both of the older women shook their heads and Barb huffed, "You know your father Arizona, he claims this is a woman's business and no place for a man. He and Carlos took off somewhere together with Jake, Miguel, and Marco." Lucia nodded and replied, "I'm sure they will come back before you leave. Either way, if they want to play this gender game, we will just make them carry everything out to the cars and take it to your house. It's the gentlemanly thing to do after all." Shocked at her mother's response, Callie burst into laughter and replied, "Well, thank you, all of you, this is lovely." Arizona took her wife's hand and suggested, "Let's go look around, this is all so amazing."
Seeing the twinkle in her wife's eyes, Callie leaned over and teased, "Aww you're loving this!" Arizona bumped their shoulders and hissed, "Oh shut up." As she looked around the room once again, she realized that she really was loving it and was extremely grateful for her friends and family. Pulling Callie toward a small table near the door that they'd completely missed earlier, Arizona asked, "What's this?" Looking down at the table, they saw a paint pallet with the seven colors of the rainbow sitting in front of a small easel holding a canvas with a rainbow painted on it. Picking up the card on the table, she read, "Welcome our rainbow babies. Pick any color of the rainbow and add your fingerprint and name to the painting so our babies will always know the people who bring the color to their lives." Arizona cooed, "Oh, it's like a guest book." Callie smiled and murmured, "This is beautiful, look, it has everyone's fingerprint." Looking up at one another, they each smiled, nodded, then dipped their finger in the paint, red for Callie and purple for Arizona, then pressed it against the canvas and washed their hand with the provided wipes, before writing mama and mommy below their respective fingerprints.
As they walked…waddled around the house, talking to their guests along the way, they were stopped by Julie, who smirked and asked, "How are you feeling Arizona?" Seeing the playful look on the young girl's face, Arizona laughed, pointed her finger at her, and declared, "Ahhh, I see what you did there." Callie looked at the two blondes, arched her brow and asked, "What? What did she do?" Julie chuckled and explained, "When I was, I don't remember, seven or eight months pregnant with Nicholas, Arizona asked me how I was feeling one day when I was extremely cranky and I told her I'd ask her how she was feeling when she got to this point in her pregnancy and then she'd know." Callie laughed and asked, "So, do you know how she was feeling now?" Arizona nodded and chirped, "Yup, you felt like a damn beached whale." Julie nodded and started to say something when she felt a stick hit her foot and groaned, "Incoming."
"Robbins? Is that Robbins' voice?" Arizona sighed at her partner's interruption and snapped, "You know damn well what my voice sounds like Nicole." The older woman shrugged and retorted, "Well I had to make sure, I've already been slapped twice." Arizona shook her head and asked, "Why are people slapping you?" Nicole looked in her direction and answered, "Because apparently it's not okay to just walk around feeling people's stomachs. Who knew? I mean that's my job…or it was…still blind as an earthworm." Arizona ran her hand through her hair in frustration, looked at Callie to see if she had any idea what her former mentor was talking about, noticed she was just as lost and sighed, "Why are you rubbing people's stomachs?" "For the baby pool you dolt! Now come here so I can feel your enormous belly." Nicole retorted as she reached out toward Arizona's stomach, only to have her hands slapped away as Callie growled, "You are not feeling my wife up so you can win some baby pool." Arizona looked at Julie and asked, "What baby pool?" Julie rolled her eyes and turned bright red before explaining, "I'm sorry, don't kill the messenger, but some of the doctors and nurses from the center saw you come in and started betting on how much longer you had before you go into labor." Nicole nodded, smirked, and cajoled, "Come on, just let me feel. I'll split the pot with you." Before Arizona could answer, Nicole's hands were on her stomach, just a little too high for Callie's liking, and she slapped them away again and warned, "You are not betting on our babies Herman." Nicole pulled her hands away, shook them in front of her and whined, "Geez, heavy handed much Torres? It's all in good fun. Ya know, you two are kinda bitchy. Maybe you should sneak off into the bedroom. That will most certainly get those babies outta there." She then cackled as she grabbed Julie's hand and ordered, "C'mon, help me find Yaeger, I've gotta get my bet in."
Watching her friend walk away, Arizona growled, "Who invited her anyway?" Callie laughed and replied, "You know you would have had a fit if she didn't come to these things." Arizona tried to hide her smile, but it was no use, and she shook her head as she answered, "I would, but damn is she annoying when she gets like that. I can't believe I'm so miserable and uncomfortable and people are betting on when I will have to suffer even more and pass three very large watermelons out of a very tiny little hole in my body." Callie kissed her cheek and teased, "You could always use your super extra special vagina vote and have them kicked out of here." Arizona snorted and asked, "How about we just go see what else our friends and family came up with? Oooh, maybe you'll have to stick a balloon…or three up your shirt." Callie laughed and commanded, "Come on goof," and guided them further down the hall where she noticed the office had several people coming and going. Walking around the room, they saw a onesie, bib, and headband decorating station with fabric markers and paints, and iron-ons and an iron; a block painting station with small wooden blocks, mod-podge glue, and various designs, stencils, and paints; and a table containing coloring pages with a different letter and object that started with that letter, with a card that read, 'Baby's First Alphabet Book', requesting guests to color a page to add to the book. They both smiled as they saw that each of the kids were sitting on the floor in the corner, painstakingly coloring one of the pages.
Arizona turned back toward the onesie station, and seeing that twinkle of excitement flash in her stunning blue eyes, Callie leaned down and asked, "Do you want to make a onesie?" She'd barely gotten the words out of her mouth before Arizona was pulling her back toward the small table. Callie pulled up a chair for Arizona and laughed when she immediately picked up a onesie and a fabric marker and got to work on her design. Callie sifted through the offerings of various colored bibs and headbands and couldn't decide which one she wanted to make. When her eyes landed on a specific color of scrunchie headband, Callie instantly pictured a chubby little girl with her mommy's features, her full lips forming a toothless dimpled smile, and couldn't help herself. Sitting down next to Arizona, she gathered some tulle and scrounged through the various shapes of gemstones until she found exactly what she was looking for.
Both were so focused on what they were doing, they didn't even notice what the other was creating. Finally finished, Callie glanced over Arizona's shoulder and whispered, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours." Arizona chuckled at her wife's flirtatious comment, nodded and replied, "Okay, just one more…there. All done." Callie smiled excitedly and asked, "On the count of three?" Arizona nodded and they both counted, "1, 2, 3," and held up their creation for the other to see. Each staring at the object her wife made, their lips bloomed into their signature smiles and Callie squealed, actually squealed, "Oh honey! I love it," and tears rolled down Arizona's cheeks as she whispered, "Calliope, it's perfect." Passing their items off so the other could get a closer look, Callie stared down at the little white t-shirt with a red and grey star in the center and traced the words, 'Superstar with a pacifier' with her finger. Arizona wiped her tears and giggled as she saw the light pink silk headband adorned with small flower shaped sequins and a pink and white tulle bow with a pink and purple butterfly gemstone in the center. Looking up into the loving eyes of her wife, she reached up, caressed her cheek, and asked, "What do you think this says about us?" "It says you are still disgustingly sickening, now get up and let the rest of us have a turn." Both women laughed and turned to see Maria scowling at them. Callie picked up some clothespins, hung up their creations next to the others, helped Arizona to her feet, then blew her friend a kiss as they walked away hand in hand.
Seeing a large group gathered around one of the tables, they walked over and couldn't help but join in on the laughter when they read the sign, 'Make Moms Laugh – Grab a diaper and write on the booty, make mama and mommy laugh during late night doody'. Picking up one of the diapers, Arizona burst out laughing as she read, "Shit happens!" Callie picked up another and read, "If you can read this, you are too close." Arizona pointed at another and said, "Oh, I know Addie wrote that one." Callie picked up the diaper and read, "Does this make my butt look big?" Max swiped the diaper and huffed, "Excuse me, but I wrote that. I also wrote this one." He handed a diaper to Arizona who burst into laughter again and handed it over to Callie who smacked the OB with it, and scolded, "You will not use our children to try to swindle my wife." Max took the diaper which said, 'Uncle Max deserves a raise', shrugged, and replied, "It was worth a shot." Both women shook their heads and walked on to the next station.
Coming upon the last table, the scrapbook station, Arizona noticed that the book looked familiar, glanced up at Callie and asked, "Did you give them this?" Callie furrowed her brow in confusion and asked, "Give them what?" Arizona flipped to the front of the book which already had several pages filled with pictures and answered, "This scrapbook, it's the one BokHee started for us, from our friends in Seattle." Before Callie could answer, Addison walked up behind them and admitted, "I stole it…well, borrowed it. I figured there was no point in starting another, so when you asked us to bring everything home from Boston, I slipped it out of the bassinet and gave it to Maria for this shower." The redhead waited to be scolded, only to watch Arizona's face crumble as she broke into tears and cried, "That was so sweet. Thank you." Before she knew what was happening, she was pulled into a very awkward hug.
Realizing her wife was getting too emotional, Callie put her arm around her shoulder, peeled her away from Addison, and soothed, "Why don't we go sit and relax for a while and let people come to you?" Arizona nodded, wiped her eyes, and huffed, "Stupid hormones." Callie chuckled and replied, "I know honey. But it was very sweet of her to think of that." Arizona nodded, buried her face in Callie's chest and cried, "It was, wasn't it? This is all so nice and sweet and just so…so much." Callie bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling and replied, "I know, it's a lot. Let's settle you on the sofa and I'll get you a glass of punch." Arizona nodded and allowed Callie to guide her across the room. After getting Arizona settled, Callie kissed her forehead and asked, "Better?" Arizona sighed and answered, "Yeah, I think I'm just a little overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting this, I mean, I thought I was, then I wasn't and now…" Noticing her wife was starting to tear up again, Callie squeezed her hand and soothed, "I know honey. I wasn't expecting it either. Let's just relax and enjoy, okay?" Arizona wiped her eyes, nodded, and watched as Callie walked into the kitchen.
On her way back from the refreshment table, Callie saw Erin walking towards her, grabbed her arm, and sighed, "Oh thank God, can you go sit with Arizona for a while?" Erin smiled and replied, "Sure, is she okay?" Callie shook her head and answered, "I don't know, she's been, she's very emotional and just bursts into tears at the drop of a hat and I think…you, you're the only one here who knows what she's really feeling." Erin looked over at her former doctor turned friend and recalled, "Yeah, right before I had the girls, I cried for fifteen minutes because my shampoo smelled like cucumber. It's the same damn shampoo I've used for ten years, but for some reason, that day it smelled more like cucumber than I wanted it to and I refused to walk around smelling like a salad. Larry had to go to the corner store and buy a different kind. The next day, I cried because my shampoo didn't smell like cucumber anymore." Callie couldn't contain her laughter, nodded, and answered, "Yeah, that…exactly that." Erin patted her on the shoulder and replied, "Don't worry, I got this." She then took the drink from Callie's hand and walked over to join Arizona on the sofa. Callie watched as Erin handed her wife the punch then laughed as Arizona held up three fingers, pointed them at the other woman and warned, "Oh no! You go away, you did this!" then burst into tears once again. Realizing her plan just blew up in her face, Callie rushed across the room, apologized to Erin, then sat on the arm of the couch and held her sobbing wife in her arms.
XXXX
Seeing that everyone had visited all the stations and were now milling about, Lucia clinked her glass with a fork to get everyone's attention, waited for the noise to settle down, then announced, "Since I lured my family here under the pretense of feeding them, I think it's only fitting that we serve lunch." "Oh thank God!" Arizona exclaimed as everyone laughed. Nodding her head, Lucia declared, "Our menu today was chosen by my granddaughter and prepared for you by Michelin Starred Chef to the Chefs, Michael March. Sofia, dear, would you like to come and announce what we will be having for lunch?" Callie and Arizona looked at one another, wondering what in the world their daughter could have chosen for them and watched as Sofia skipped to her abuela's side, waved at them, then explained, "When mommy and I first moved back here, mama took us on a donut tour and there was this really yucky donut." "Oh no," Arizona whispered and Callie mumbled, "She wouldn't." Seeing their daughter was staring at them, they both snapped their mouths closed and she continued, "We were fighting over who would have to eat it when mama and mommy started talking about mac and cheese cupcakes and it sounded like they really liked them." She stopped when she heard her mama gasp, looked up, hoping she didn't make a bad choice, then sighed in relief when she saw both of her parents smiling their big special smiles, and continued, "I asked Mr. Michael if that was a real thing." She stopped again when everyone laughed, then nodded and confirmed, "He said they were real and he could make them. Then he asked me to pick all their favorite foods and he would turn that into cupcakes too!" She turned to Michael who came up behind her and finished, "So, today Chef Michael has prepared, mac and cheese cupcakes, lasagna cupcakes, cheesy mashed potato cupcakes, mommy's favorite taco bites, and mama's favorite cheeseburgers, oh and some healthy salads and other stuff." When she finished, everyone clapped, and Lucia announced, "Okay, everyone line up at the buffet, Callie and Arizona, the two of you and my beautiful grandchild get to go first of course."
Callie stood from her perch on the arm of the sofa next to Arizona, helped her to her feet, and they both held out their arms for their daughter. Looking up at her mommies, the little girl bounced on her toes and asked, "Did I do good?" The two women looked at one another, both recalling the sweet memory the mac and cheese cupcake evoked, smiled down at their daughter, and Arizona answered, "You did amazing big girl." As they walked to the table, Callie added, "Better than amazing! Mommy, do you remember how we were wishing all food came in the form of a cupcake after we ate the mac and cheese cupcake?" Arizona leaned further into Callie and replied, "I do, in fact, I'm pretty sure we both said we'd like to try lasagna AND mashed potato cupcakes." Callie narrowed her eyes at the little girl and asked, "How did you know that?" Sofia flipped her hair back and chirped, "Cuz I'm awesome." She then skipped ahead of her mommies, who stood frozen in the center of the room staring at her. Callie shook her head and muttered, "I can't believe her." Arizona laughed and cooed, "I think she's cute." Callie laughed at her wife and muttered, "Of course you do," and guided her toward the table where they both proceeded to fill their plates with the savory cupcakes made in their honor.
Once they were seated again, Callie bit into the lasagna cupcake and moaned in pleasure as she gushed, "Oh my God Arizona, this is even better than I imagined it would be." She held it out for Arizona, watched as she took a big bite, closed her eyes, and moaned, "Oh mmmm, OH! OH, Calliope!" Though Callie normally loved the little sounds Arizona made when she was eating something, she looked around the room, slightly embarrassed, hoping no one else heard her. She was just about to tell her wife to tone it down when Arizona's nails dug into her forearm and she hissed, "Ah…I think we…ugh we need to take these to go." Confused, Callie stared into glistening blue eyes, blinked rapidly, and asked, "What?" Arizona exhaled slowly, looked up, and asked, "Who predicted I wouldn't make it through lunch?" Still trying to figure out what her wife was talking about, Callie heard Nicole holler out, "HA! I still got it. I told you she wouldn't make it through…OH SHIT! MONTGOMERY! Prepare to get that dress dirty." Callie's eyes grew wide as she looked at Arizona who was smiling her big super-magic smile even through the grimace of pain and whispered, "It's time Calliope." Callie popped off the couch, stared down at her wife and yelled, "Time, it's time… they…" Raising her hands to either side of her head, she clutched at her hair and breathed out, "Oh fuck! It's time," as everything went black.
A/N: Surprise indeed.