Friday evening, after picking up a pizza, bathing Sofia to wash off all the paint from art club, the dirt from the playground, ice cream, and pizza sauce, Callie followed Arizona and Sofia into their daughter's bedroom which she also had never seen. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn't what she was seeing. Looking around, she saw that Arizona had painted the walls a pale pastel pink, decorated with large stickers and posters of fairies. The matching dresser, bookshelf, mini vanity, and bedframe were made of a darker wood, mahogany if she had to venture a guess, and there was a pink canopy decorated with fairy lights draped over the tall bed posts. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale. Arizona and Sofia turned to see Callie standing at the door looking around the room and while the blonde bit her lip nervously, wondering what the other woman was thinking, their daughter had no such qualms and excitedly asked, "Do you like it mama? Me and mommy picked everything out and Aunt April helped us paint it." Callie looked around in awe and smiled as she asked, "You did this?" Arizona blushed slightly and replied, "We did." Callie picked Sofia up and carried her to her bed, pulled back the covers and stated, "I love it. It's like you live in your own little fairy forest. You and mommy did a great job." Sofia giggled and climbed into bed.

Arizona watched while Callie tucked their daughter into her bed and not for the first time since they started making an effort to spend time together as a family, did she realize how much she missed this side of them. How much Sofia missed out on certainly, but how much she missed this part, this was the part of them no one else got to see. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sofia who asked, "Can you read me a story?" Arizona went to the bookshelf, picked out Sofia's favorite Tinkerbell book and handed it to Callie, who was sitting on the side of the bed. Callie looked at her and arched her brow and Arizona shrugged and responded, "You're here, might as well put you to work." She internally chastised herself for doing so because she knew deep within, she just wanted to hear Callie read to their daughter, hear the funny voices and the giggles if only for one more night. When she saw her ex-wife narrow her eyes at her and give her a knowing look, she knew she figured her out and was more than a little shocked she even remembered her saying that. Sofia patted the other side of her bed and requested, "Come sit down mommy, you can both read." Callie smirked at her daughter's suggestion and added, "That sounds like a great idea Sof." Arizona pursed her lips, walked over to the bed, sat down and started running her hands through her daughter's hair while Callie read the first page.

XXXX

When they walked out of the room, Callie whined, "That's really not fair, you didn't even have to read. You did your little magic thing with her hair and she was knocked out." Arizona laughed and proclaimed, "You're just jealous I can make her go to sleep so fast." Callie chuckled and replied, "Okay, you got me there. I always have to go through the whole, 'mama, I'm thirsty, mama, I have to go to the bathroom, mama, I forgot…whatever.' I've tried rubbing her head, running my fingers through her hair, rubbing her back, nothing works." Arizona flipped her hair over her shoulder and declared, "It's because I'm awesome." Callie shook her head and followed Arizona into the kitchen. She watched as the blonde pulled out two glasses and two bottles of wine, sighed, and asked, "So it's going to be that kind of talk eh?" Arizona blew out a breath, looked at the two bottles, chuckled a little and replied, "One's red and one's white, but it's definitely not a milk or juice kind of talk and we drank the last of the pop." Callie nodded, took the offered glass, then followed Arizona into the living room.

Arizona sat in the overstuffed chair, needing space for this conversation, leaving the sofa for Callie. Both of them took a sip of their wine, then stared into their glasses. Finally Callie broke the silence and asked, "What did you mean back there when you said you're used to it and you've been dealing with it since before Sofia was born?" Arizona took another drink of her wine, put her glass down on the end table next to her, then rubbed her face with both hands and tried to figure out where to start, she knew she had to get to the worst part eventually, but didn't want to lead with that. Deciding to start with something safe, Arizona answered, "It's just, that's not the first time that has happened. When Sofia and I are out alone, I am mistaken for a nanny, a babysitter, a foster mom, any number of things, but never her mother." She shrugged then and added, "At first I used to explode, I would go off on one of my angry rants and say pretty much the same things you said today. After five years of it happening, I guess I'm just immune to it now. I correct the person and move on." Callie furrowed her brow and asked, "Five years? Her whole life? Arizona, we were together for three of those years, and before she was born, why didn't you tell me?" Arizona sighed, picked up her glass of wine, and closed her eyes for a brief moment trying to figure out how to answer that question. She still wasn't ready to get to that part of the conversation. She was almost positive she would see the back of Callie and things would go back to how they were when she brought it up.

Callie watched Arizona closely and could see the painful expression on her face, when she opened her eyes, she saw a sadness, an emotion she couldn't identify, that she had never seen before. Trying not to push that point, though she desperately wanted to know now, she asked instead, "What else? Where else have you experienced this?" Relieved Callie let her off the hook for the time being, Arizona asked a question in return, "Callie, when the hospital daycare or the school has to call you for Sofia, do they ever apologize to you and tell you they tried to reach me but I was in surgery?" Callie furrowed her brows in confusion and answered, "No, but I don't understand what that…" Arizona cut in, "They do that to me. Every damn time. You and I enrolled her in school together. Both of our names are on her paperwork as her legal parents. I drop her off and pick her up every other week just like you do. At the hospital, I have been dropping her off and picking her up since the first day we started taking her there with the exception of my recovery time after the plane crash. The same people have worked there for five years Callie. Yet every time there is an issue at either place, they call you first and when you can't come, they call me and always apologize profusely, as if it is an inconvenience for me to take care of my own child." Callie looked at her in shock, she had no idea this happened, once again, even while they were together, Arizona never said anything to her.

Taking another drink of her wine, Callie did her best not to ask why she was never told and instead tried to figure it out on her own and realized that would do neither of them any good. She recalled how it felt that day that neither she nor Arizona were paged for Sofia when she cut her head and someone went straight to Penny. It infuriated her. It wasn't the same at all, but not to be considered first or as an equal parent, it must cut Arizona to the core. Setting her own glass down, Callie leaned forward, with her arms resting on her knees, waiting patiently for the rest. Without realizing it, she muttered, "I can't believe our own colleagues do that, I mean, they know you're her mom, they know you're her equal parent, I just don't…I don't get it." Arizona couldn't help but snort at that comment and knew now was the time when she saw Callie turn her head and look at her in confusion. Callie finally asked, almost pleadingly, "Will you please tell me Arizona? I promise to hear you out without interrupting." Arizona took another drink of her wine, pulled her legs up, almost curling herself into a ball, which indicated to Callie that Arizona was trying to protect herself from whatever fallout was to come and it only deepened her conviction to try to listen and do as Dr. Carr said and stop to think before she spoke. Whatever Arizona had to say, hurt her deeply and Callie just knew she was the cause or at least part of the cause of that pain.

Arizona stared at the wall across from her and admitted, "I was never an equal parent Callie. I get it, I left. I left and went to Africa and I hurt you deeply. When I returned, you were pregnant. It hurt, it nearly broke me, but when I said I was in, I was in. But…I wasn't in as far as you and Mark were concerned." She stopped then, waiting for Callie to cut in with something about him being the father and what was she supposed to do or he was her best friend or something, but instead she got nothing. She decided to continue, "I was constantly reminded he was the father; you were the mother. What did that make me? I sat back and watched while he rubbed lotion on my girlfriend's feet, while he constantly had his hands all over your stomach and I couldn't even touch you. I tried to tell you how I felt and you dismissed my feelings by telling me he was your best friend and the father. But I knew, I knew if I wanted you and this baby, which I did, more than anything in the world, I knew I would just have to deal with being the third wheel in my own relationship." Arizona fought the tears that threatened to fall. This was another thing she had come to terms with a long time ago. At least she thought she had until she spoke it all out loud for the first time.

Callie sat back on the couch, watched as Arizona seemed to go to a different place. She could see the tears welling in her eyes, tears she refused to let fall, but she saw that indescribable look again. She so badly wanted to argue, but her argument would be the same, you left me, he was my best friend, he was the father. So instead, she quietly insisted, "Go on please." Arizona broke from her trance, looked at her for a moment, nodded, then decided she needed to get up and walk, she couldn't stay still for this next part. Running her hands through her hair, she started again, "Every day I heard the whispers, 'Why does she put up with that?' 'Does she know they're still doing it behind her back?' 'Does she really think this kid is going to be hers?' I just ignored them, I tried to, but they kept me up at night, especially the last one. I was already so in love with that baby and I had no rights to her whatsoever. It was only confirmed when…" She stopped, blew out a deep breath, leaned her head against the wall, and shook it back and forth. Callie knew whatever was coming was the cause of that look she kept seeing and steeled herself for it. She reached over and grabbed a throw pillow, clutched it to her chest, and quietly asked, "When what, Arizona?"

Arizona knew she had to look at Callie when she told her this part, she knew Callie had to see the truth, the pain, everything in her eyes to believe her. She walked back to her chair, sat down, took another drink of her wine and admitted, "The day we got into the car accident, they brought you in and it's like I wasn't even there. I was your medical proxy, but they asked Mark all of the questions, they listened to his directives. While they were operating on you, I was sitting in the gallery alone, my head was still bleeding from the cut, I was watching my girlfriend die on the table, Derek looked up at me and sent someone to keep an eye on Mark, like he looked right through me. Alex got pissed at him and came up to be with me and to examine me. I mean, you took precedence of course. But Mark came next. I wasn't even a thought. I had an open head wound, the neurosurgeon looked right at me and sent someone to be with the person who wasn't in the accident." Callie raised a shaky hand and put it over her mouth, she had no words. She was hurt and angry and couldn't imagine how that made Arizona feel. She started to say something, to apologize to soothe her ex-wife, but didn't get the chance when she was hit with the next part of the story.

Arizona curled up into her little ball again, but this time she was facing Callie and bit her bottom lip before continuing, "While they were trying to stop the bleeding and assess everything, Fields didn't give Sofia the steroids she needed to strengthen her lungs in case they needed to take her. That's when she told Webber she was in over her head and he called Addison in." Callie nodded and Arizona kept on with, "Bailey was the one who told us…she said they needed to go back in, but in trying to save you…" She stopped, took a breath, closed her eyes, and finished, "…if they saved you, it would kill the baby and if they saved the baby, it might kill you." Callie immediately started crying, she had never heard this before. She was so glad Mark was there and made the right decision. Arizona took a deep breath, pinched the bridge of her nose, then revealed, "I immediately told them we needed to save the baby, that if you woke up and there was no baby, you would be devastated, it would kill you. Mark disagreed, he asked why we were even talking about the baby, he said we needed to save you." Callie's head snapped up and the bile instantly rose to her throat, she was certain she was going to throw up. She was just thinking she was glad Mark was there to make the right decision and Mark wanted to abort the baby. MARK! Arizona was the one who knew what she wanted, Arizona was the one being the parent, Arizona fought for Sofia.

Callie's voice cracked when she asked, "Wha…what happened?" She watched as the tears fell down smooth alabaster cheeks and shaky hands tried to wipe them away to no avail. Arizona shook her head; she didn't want to relive that moment but she got this far. She admitted, "There was a fight, a big, horrible fight in the middle of the hallway." Callie was almost certain she was going to have to drag this out of the blonde. Arizona exhaled what felt like all of the air in her lungs, turned so she was sitting properly in the chair, and revealed, "He said you'd just make another baby. I asked, so what, you're just going to screw my girlfriend again? He said if that's what it takes to make another baby, MY baby, then yeah, we'll screw again. We just kept fighting, I don't remember some of it, we were yelling over each other until…" Arizona put her face in her hands and just started sobbing. The words still haunted her. Both, the things she said to Mark and the things he said to her. They gave her nightmares, and every time something happened like it did today, it only reinforced those words. Callie looked at Arizona, could almost feel her anguish, and knew whatever was said next, broke her and she still felt the pain to this day. A shiver ran down her spine, this had to be bad, as if what was already said wasn't bad enough. Getting up off the couch, she knelt in front of Arizona, took her by the wrists, removed her hands from her face, and held them in hers as she quietly asked, "Until what, Arizona?"

Arizona looked up at Callie and shook her head then replied, "Some of this I'm not proud of, but I started going over all the risks and Mark cut me off saying he knew the risks and I told him he was acting like he didn't care about the baby. He told me he was thinking about you and said he did care; this was his baby. I told him he wasn't being rational. Then he yelled at me and told me I never wanted this and never asked for it so why the hell was I giving him my opinion. I yelled back and told him what I never asked for was him, he was basically a sperm donor, this was me and you and we were together. He cut me off and said…" She stopped, rubbed her chest right over her heart and declared, "I can't." Callie furrowed her brow in confusion and asked, "You can't tell me?" Arizona shook her head back and forth and cried, "It hurts, God it hurts." Callie lifted her hands, put one on each of Arizona's cheeks, wiped away her tears, and whispered, "You can tell me now. Trust me to listen. Please?" Arizona sucked in a breath, surprised by both Callie's gentle touch and how her face still tingled as she drew her hands away. She nodded and with a shaky voice told her ex-wife the rest of the secret she'd been keeping for five years, "He said I don't get a say. He was the father, he was the father and this was his family, I wasn't anything. I was nothing." She watched as Callie's expression turned from concerned, to stunned, to outright pissed and just waited for the backlash.

Callie fell back on her heels, her hands dropping to her sides. She just stared at Arizona, too shocked to say anything. She replayed the entire conversation about that day in her head, from the way Arizona was treated by their colleagues to the way she was treated by Mark, the things he said. She recalled Arizona wasn't proud of some of the things she said and knew she must have been referring to the sperm donor comment, but hell, Mark just threw blow after blow at her. He told them to abort the baby, he told her they'd just screw again, that right there was the ultimate sign of disrespect to her and Arizona and their relationship. Suddenly she felt the anger bubbling from within, she was no longer sick to her stomach, confused, or shocked, she felt murderous. She stood up and started pacing the living room, trying to calm herself before she said anything. She wasn't angry at Arizona, not exactly, but she wondered why she didn't know about this, how this of all things was kept so quiet. Everyone in that hospital talked, yet no one talked about this. Finally she turned and tried as hard as she could to keep the anger out of her tone when she asked, "Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Arizona sat back in her chair, picked up her glass and downed the rest of her wine. She'd gotten this far; she might as well let it all out.

Running her fingers through her hair, Arizona admitted, "I didn't tell you…" She stopped, inhaled deeply, slowly exhaled, and tried again, "I didn't tell you because I, ah, I was afraid you'd side with Mark. I was worried you agreed with him and just…I don't know. I'd lose you; I'd lose my daughter. There was nothing binding Callie. The only reason I didn't get written up for stepping in and saving her that day was 'technically' I wasn't her family. That's the same reason I was able to be in the operating room while Stark was working on her heart. I wasn't family Callie. No one in that hospital recognized me as her family or yours!" Callie spun around on her heel and asked, "How could you think that? I did, I thought of you as my family. I told you I wanted you to be her mother, I told you I wanted to marry you. I did marry you." Arizona shook her head and answered, "Callie, you may have married me, but long before that and long after that, Mark came first." Callie shook her head and argued, "I don't understand, you got along after that." Arizona sighed and replied, "He apologized, but it didn't take the pain or the fear away. I just, I knew I was marrying into a family, I just had to deal with it, like I said, if I wanted you and Sofia, I had to take Mark too. So I tried to figure out how to get along with him." Callie opened her mouth and before she knew it, those damn words came flying out, "He was her father Arizona, my best friend."

Arizona popped out of her chair and crossed the room so fast Callie didn't even see it coming. The blonde threw her arms in the air and hissed, "I am so tired of the same fucking excuses. I KNOW he was her father. No one is debating that fact. Hell, neither one of you ever let me forget it for a single God damn minute. But my point is this, there were no boundaries in your relationship with Mark, before or after Sofia. There are many people who co-parent and have a set schedule, I mean we do it now. We don't have any problem with it. We have a key to each other's homes, but only use it in emergencies for Sofia because we respect each other's space and BOUNDARIES. But Mark, he got to walk in at anytime he wanted, morning, noon, and night. He's interrupted us having sex Callie and more often than not, you got out of bed and went to him. Mark's needs always came before mine or ours. You let him sleep in our bed. You agreed to adopt his grandchild with him without even discussing it with your girlfriend. It was always you and Mark and then me. Mark always knew everything before I knew it. You accused me of being jealous of him. You're damn right I was and that's not always a bad thing Callie. Not when I felt like I was always the third wheel or the last thought in our relationship and everyone knew it but you. I know that he was your best friend, I do. But we should have been each other's best friends. We should have shared that intimacy that only lovers share. You shared it with Mark though. You WERE my best friend and my lover. Teddy was my closest friend, however, she never walked in and out of our apartment whenever she wanted, she never slept in our bed, she never involved herself in our relationship. Most importantly, I never fucked her and I'd bet my life on the fact that if I did, you'd have a huge problem with us being friends." Arizona knew her voice had risen; the anger and angst had started to show itself. She also knew there was either going to be a big fight or Callie was going to leave again and she wouldn't return this time. Not when it came to Mark. She stood up, picked up her glass and went to the kitchen for more wine.

Callie stood against the wall staring at the spot her ex-wife just vacated. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, feeling like she was just punched in the stomach. She wanted to fight back, but she had no argument. Once again, she was faced with Arizona's truth, how she felt, how she saw things, and realized just like last time, she couldn't argue with that. She also conceded that it wasn't just Arizona's truth, it was reality and she had argued with Arizona about it, many, many times over the course of their relationship. She was dismissive whenever Arizona tried to talk to her about anything involving Mark. She was flippant and angry and felt like Arizona was trying to make her choose, when in fact, Arizona wouldn't do that because she was too afraid she'd choose Mark. She knew she had to say something, she just had no idea what to say, what to do. Pushing herself off the wall, she walked to the coffee table, picked up her wine glass, drank the rest of it in one gulp, then walked into the kitchen where she found the blonde leaning against the sink, shaking her leg nervously, holding a second glass of wine. Callie picked up the bottle of red, arched her brow at Arizona, silently asking if she could pour another glass, was relieved when she received the nod and wasn't kicked out the door, then filled it nearly to the top. She heard the little chuckle coming from across the room and declared, "Definitely not a milk or juice conversation." Arizona took another drink of her own wine and answered, "Nope!" popping the 'p' for added emphasis.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, nursing their drinks, both trying to figure out what to say. Arizona was curious as to why Callie wasn't fighting back, why she wasn't angry and yelling at her. Callie was struggling to put into words what she wanted to say, she had no idea where to start. She took a deep breath and proclaimed, "You um, you said a lot, I'm just…I'm trying to wrap my head around all of it." Arizona nodded in understanding and kept quiet. The silence was uncomfortable, only because she didn't know what was coming, but it wasn't unbearable. Callie knew her first goal was to keep the past in the past, but she was coming to realize they had to talk about the past if they were ever going to move forward. Maybe, just maybe, part of the reason she felt stuck was because she had never closed those chapters. It was clear that this one had remained open for Arizona. It was also clear that it was a point of major contention in their relationship that she refused to even acknowledge.

Walking to the dining room table, the brunette sat down and quietly said, "I get it, why you never told me any of this, about the rumors, the daycare, the school, the fight with Mark. I mean, you tried to tell me your feelings and you're right, I always gave you the same responses." Arizona turned to look at her, this was not at all what she expected to hear. Callie looked up at her and admitted, "As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I knew they were the wrong thing to say." Arizona nodded and asked, "So, why did you say it then?" Callie closed her eyes, tilted her head and answered, "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, I even thought earlier in the conversation about how you were right and I used the same tired arguments." Arizona looked up in surprise. She wasn't expecting that response. Callie rubbed her forehead, took a sip of her wine and continued, "I did all of the things you said I did. I can't argue with your truth, with how you felt or feel. I did then, I didn't listen…I didn't want to. I mean, Lexie even tried to tell me she was uncomfortable with our relationship and I blew her off too." Arizona knew Lexie felt the same way, they'd talked about it, she just didn't know the other woman had tried to talk to Callie about it. She watched as tears welled in big brown eyes and Callie hung her head as if she were ashamed of her actions and crossed the room to sit next to her at the table.

Callie felt Arizona sit down beside her, lifted her head to look at her and saw nothing but a soft, concerned expression on her face. She wiped her eyes, took a drink of her wine and asked, "Can I ask you a question?" Arizona smirked and quipped, "You just did." Callie couldn't help but smile at that then sobered and asked, "If you were so unhappy and jealous, why did you ask me to marry you? Is it because…" Arizona lifted her hand and put one finger over Callie's lips, not even wanting to hear what she had to say and answered, "I asked you to marry me because I loved you more than anything in this world. I wanted a family with you and Sofia. Before I met you Callie, I never saw myself settling down with anyone and no I didn't see myself as a mother. But you changed all of that for me. You made me want that with you and only you. The love we shared, the way you loved me, I've never felt that before and I've never loved anyone like I loved you. Yes, Mark was a big point of contention in our relationship, but if I had to deal with Mark to keep you, to keep our love, then I would, and I tried." Callie looked into sad blue eyes and wondered what the source of the sadness was, if it was still from their previous conversation or if it was now over lost love. For herself, she felt a little stabbing in her chest every time Arizona said, 'loved' in the past tense. She quickly shook that thought from her mind. She knew those were feelings that couldn't be explored until she straightened her shit out.

When Arizona removed her finger, Callie nodded and replied, "Our love was extremely rare and despite how I acted, you were the most important person in my life Arizona." Immediately after hearing those words, Arizona looked down at her lap. She'd longed to hear them for several years and to hear them in the past tense was painful and still to her slightly unbelievable. She wanted to trust Callie, take her at her word, but it was hard even after all this time. Callie looked at Arizona and was certain she didn't believe her; she also didn't miss the pain in her eyes right before she put her head down and wondered about the cause of that as well. Reaching out, she took Arizona's hand in both of hers causing the blonde's head to snap up and look her in the eye. Callie cleared her throat and declared, "I know this is a long time coming and I hope it's not too late to at least, um try to help us both start healing, but I apologize Arizona. I'm really sorry for not listening to you, for not considering your feelings, for putting Mark before you. I'm sorry that you didn't feel like you were important to me. I'm also sorry for everything you've gone through with Sof…" Arizona shook her head and whispered, "Don't apologize for that part please. I would go through anything for my daughter. I would do anything for her. I don't care what anyone else thinks about my relationship with her as long as she knows I'm her mommy and you treat me as your equal, nothing else matters." She looked up into uncertain brown eyes, covered Callie's hand with her free hand and offered, "It's not too late. I accept your apology Callie. It really means a great deal to me and it will go a long way toward helping me heal and I hope it will help you too."

Callie took a deep breath; grateful they got through this very painful talk with a minimal amount of tears and yelling. She nodded her head and answered, "You know, I think it will. I just, I never knew any, well, most of that and I just now that I do, I see many things much more clearly." Arizona took a sip of her wine, nodded and replied, "Good. I'm glad." Callie looked at her glass of wine and though she really wanted to finish it, she knew she needed to drive home. She stood up and said, "I should get going. The little one is going to have you up early in the morning." Arizona stood as well and followed her to the front door. This time it was she who asked, "Are we…are we okay?" Callie smiled softly and answered, "Yeah, we're good. I have a lot of thinking to do. But you and I are good." Arizona nodded her head and Callie held out her arms, knowing Arizona needed a hug for further confirmation. The blonde smiled and instantly stepped into the open arms of her ex-wife. After a moment or two, they released one another and Arizona opened the door for Callie.

When the brunette stepped out on the porch, Arizona called, "Hey Callie?" Turning around, Callie looked at Arizona in question. The blonde took a deep breath and admitted, "I just, I feel like the last two conversations were focused on you and things you did. I want you to know, I made a lot of mistakes too and I have a lot of things I need to say about that. I don't want you to think all of our talks will be like this. I honestly…I wanted our next talk to be about something else, this just happened to come up." Callie smiled a genuine smile, took the few steps back to the door, gave Arizona another hug and said, "Thank you for saying that. I wasn't feeling attacked or anything and you said before we both made mistakes, so thank you for letting me know you're open to talking about those things." Arizona released her and replied, "Of course. Be safe okay?" Callie nodded and waved then walked to her car, got in, and drove away.

XXXX

On her way home, Callie debated on stopping by Grey's house or maybe going to the hospital to talk to Bailey, in the end, she decided that she'd done enough of that. She'd always gone to other people with her problems, especially where Arizona was concerned and quite honestly, she wasn't sure if she wanted other people's opinions about this. This was something she needed to figure out on her own and if she couldn't, she would talk to Dr. Carr about it, which she should probably do anyway. When she pulled into her driveway, she sat in her car for a minute, knowing that after spending most of the day with Arizona and Sofia, the house would feel emptier and she would feel lonelier than usual. As she took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car, a thought was niggling at her brain and it just wasn't making itself clear.

Once she got into the house, she went straight to her bedroom and decided to shower. For some reason she was always able to think better in the shower. She turned on the water as hot as she could stand it, took off her clothes and stepped under the spray. As the steaming hot water pelted down on her back, Arizona's words ran through Callie's mind, conjuring images of the events she brought up. Scene after scene flashed before her where time and time again, she answered to Mark's every whim. As she lathered her hair with shampoo, she thought about her conversation with Lexie in the hallway after she changed clothes in front of both her and Mark. Feeling the water nearly burn her scalp, she thought of multiple conversations she had with Erika about her dysfunctional relationship with Mark. Then her mind skipped to the day she nearly attacked Meredith in the locker room for telling George about Mark. While she was putting the conditioner in her long black hair, Arizona's shocked and broken expression popped into her mind as plain as if she were standing right in front of her, they stood in an elevator and she told the woman she loved that she was pregnant with Mark's baby. Mark, the man Arizona most feared would take her away, got her pregnant. Callie felt the hot water running down her face and knew it wasn't from the shower, she could taste the salt from her tears and fell to her knees and sobbed.

A/N: Again, thank you so much for your reviews and input. I feel the same way as many of you do. I am not trying to bash Callie, but I want to see her figure things out, I want her to see the things we saw and understood about her character, both good and bad. But please trust, Arizona will go through the same processes.

I hope I did this topic justice. There is still a great deal of unpacking to do on Callie's part, but I feel like this is a good start.