After a long restless night worrying about Callie and replaying their conversation over and over in her head, Arizona finally gave up on trying to fall back to sleep and rolled over to put on her prosthetic and get out of bed. She moaned when she picked up her phone and saw that it was only 6:15 am. She debated crawling back into bed to at least rest her body but knew her mind would just keep buzzing. Standing up, she went into the bathroom, washed her face, ran a brush through her unruly blonde curls and shook her head at how awful she looked and felt. Foregoing a shower for now, she went into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker, which she always prepared the night before. While she waited for her coffee to brew, she stared at the chair her ex-wife occupied several hours ago. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see her still sitting there. Callie had invaded her personal space, she'd been in her home, and now she can't look at the sofa or the table without seeing Callie there and it unnerved her. This was her safe haven, the one place she could go and not see traces of her ex-wife. She wouldn't even try to lie to herself and say she didn't think about her at least once a day, but here, in her home, it was easier not to do that…until now.

Arizona prepared her coffee and sat in the chair she'd just been staring at and replayed Callie's apology in her mind as she'd done a hundred times over since her ex-wife walked out the door. She took a sip of her coffee and thought not just about the words, but the tone and delivery. She truly believed Callie was being sincere in her apology, she knew she finally recognized the way she felt all those years ago and still did occasionally. What worried her was how calm Callie was, how…receptive she was. Her Callie was always on the defensive and she showed signs of that one time last night and acknowledged that it was a mistake later on in their conversation. She'd rarely seen her ex like that, but when she did, it was because everything hadn't fully registered with her yet. She was calm and reserved until she wasn't. Callie was a brooder; she would allow things to build up and boil over until she exploded. That was Arizona's biggest concern now. She knew her words had affected her ex-wife so she wouldn't be able to just let this go, even after apologizing. She didn't fear the repercussions as much as she feared that it would send Callie spiraling and it might undo all the hard work she had clearly put in thus far. Not to mention, put an end to their already tenuous newfound friendship.

Though she knew it was too early to call, Arizona wandered back into her bedroom, picked up her phone, and against her better judgement typed out a text message to her ex-wife.

Me: I hope you were able to sleep well. I just wanted to check in. I know last night was a lot to take in. If you need to talk, I'm here.

Staring at the message she reread and edited several times, Arizona finally hit send and placed her phone down on the bedside table. Exhaling slowly, she tried to put the other woman out of her mind, knowing it was much easier said than done. She opened the drawer, pulled out the little notebook she kept there for making lists and started developing a plan for the day. She and Sofia had some errands to run, she definitely needed to get groceries, pick up her dry cleaning, and wanted to try to find something fun for them to do. Maybe later in the afternoon they would see what was playing at the theater or go to the hands-on museum. Already feeling a little better and having a plan to keep herself and her daughter busy, Arizona decided she needed a long hot shower.

XXXX

Callie awoke Saturday morning feeling like she had sandpaper in her eyes and her head was pounding from all the crying. She wasn't sure how long she had cried before she eventually gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep, nor did she have any idea how long she slept. Judging from the light peeking in through the curtains, it was late morning. Groaning at the ache in her body from sleeping in the same position all night, she sat up, lifted her hand to comb her fingers through her hair and winced as she ran into tangle after tangle. She realized then that she didn't even bother to brush it after her shower and just climbed into bed naked with her hair still wet. She was not looking forward to seeing what she might look like. She was sure her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were red and blotchy from the tears. She had hoped she would awake feeling lighter, but her heart was still heavy and her head was a mess. Thankfully she was off this weekend and had a little time to clear her mind.

After pulling on her robe and plodding to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, Callie only waited long enough for it to make a full cup before taking out the carafe and filling her mug. After replacing the carafe and preparing her coffee the way she liked it, the brunette took a long drink of the steaming hot brew, enjoying the burn as it went down her irritated throat. This is the closest she'd felt to having a hangover in quite some time and just like she always did the morning after, she wondered why she was putting herself through this pain. She knew though, she knew that eventually she would start healing, and maybe Arizona could too. She sighed at just the thought of her ex-wife, she couldn't get the image of her sitting across from her wearing that painfilled expression with the unnamed emotion out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Callie shook her head trying to rid herself of the vision, but it haunted her, almost mocked her and she couldn't unsee it now. Every time she closed her eyes, it was there, it was like those gorgeous blue eyes were trying to tell her something, something she already knew, she just couldn't figure out what it was.

After another long hot shower and conditioning her hair twice, Callie almost felt human again. She threw on a pair of sweats, an old t-shirt, brushed all of the knots out of her hair, put it in into a ponytail, and walked straight into the kitchen to refill her cup. Callie leaned against the counter sipping on her second cup of coffee, savoring this one, whereas the first was used strictly as a necessity to wake her up and get her body moving. She stared blankly at the wall while thinking of some of the conclusions she'd come to during her minor breakdown. After she'd recognized how destructive her relationship with Mark was to the other people in their lives she felt even worse because she couldn't reconcile that with most of them. She couldn't share her epiphany with Mark, set things straight with him because he was dead. She couldn't apologize to Lexie because she was dead. Hell, she couldn't even apologize to George because he was dead too. Then there was Erika, whom she never wanted to speak to again, and honestly while Mark was part of the problem, she knew there was so much wrong with that relationship she couldn't even begin to unravel it all. But they were all gone, every single one of them, gone in the blink of an eye.

She took another drink of her coffee, swiped her hand down her face and let out a long sigh. There was one person who wasn't gone though. One person who she lost time and again, but she always came back, even now, and that was Arizona. If Callie were being honest, she would have to admit to herself that Arizona was the only person who mattered, and in truth, she was the one who got hurt the most, she was the one still suffering from that pain. Callie felt a single tear run down her cheek as she once again revisited their previous night's conversation. She apologized for everything, but after reflecting on all that was said, after putting the words together with the images in her mind, her words felt empty, hollow, even to her. She meant them, she meant every word she uttered and was truly remorseful for how she treated Arizona, for how she let Mark treat Arizona, and for how Arizona felt as if she weren't even a part of her own relationship. The single tear became a torrent as she realized she needed to say more, she needed Arizona to understand she was heard and even though it was years too late, she needed her ex-wife to believe that she was her everything. She wasn't sure why that part was so crucial, maybe it was the sadness in those blue eyes when she told her how important she was to her then, maybe it was because Arizona didn't believe her, deep in her heart though, Callie knew it was because it never stopped being true.

Deciding she couldn't sit and wallow in her own misery all day, Callie walked into the living room to watch some mindless television. As soon as she crossed the entryway however, she was faced with the same picture she had seen hanging on Arizona's wall. It was the picture of Arizona, Mark, and herself holding Sofia on the day they came home from the hospital. While thinking back upon that day, she remembered a similar picture, one taken right before that of only she and Arizona with Sofia, a picture that never made it into a frame. She took the photo from the wall and studied it closely as something niggled at her brain. In this picture, Mark was standing between them, almost like he was center stage. As she stared at the smiling faces, the three adults and the baby, who for all intents and purposes looked to be a happy family, she was hit with another memory, another reminder that Arizona was trying to tell her how she felt and she just glossed over it. Okay, can we just be honest about the fact that this is some kind of bi dream come true? I mean, you get the woman that you love, and, and the guy best friend, who's also a great lay, and then you get the baby. I mean you get it all, and me? This is not my dream…my dream…doesn't look like this. Callie looked down at the picture again and recalled Arizona's words from the night before, I knew I was marrying into a family. Like I said, if I wanted you and Sofia, I had to take Mark too. Callie was on the verge of tears again; the guilt was eating at her from the inside out and that damn feeling that something was just at the edge of her brain trying to break free was nearly driving her insane.

She knew whatever it was that was bothering her was being triggered by this picture. Putting her coffee cup and the frame down on the coffee table, Callie ran into the bedroom she used to share with Arizona, dug through the closet, and found their old box of pictures and photo albums. Carrying it back to the living room, she realized she was going to be flooded with painful memories, but she had to figure this out and she had to do it on her own. She sat the box on the coffee table, took a seat on the sofa, and pulled the table closer to her so she could easily reach inside the box. Callie opened the box and her breath hitched as she was instantly faced with a framed photo of her and Arizona on their wedding day and once again, Mark was standing between them.

Callie dug deeper into the box and pulled out a handful of unframed pictures. Her heart ached each time she came across a picture of her and Arizona alone together. They were always wrapped around each other, holding hands, laughing, sitting so close you didn't know where one started and the other ended, or staring into each other's eyes like no one else was around. They looked so happy, so in love. Whenever she found pictures of the two of them holding Sofia, you could see how they both adored their daughter, the way they looked at her, held her close. She picked up one picture and her smile bloomed across her face as she looked down at the image of Arizona sitting on her lap which was rare and a nearly one year old Sofia standing on her mommy's legs looking at both of them laughing with her adorable little dimple on display. This was the family she wanted, the family she'd dreamed of; her, Arizona, and their daughter. Despite what Arizona thought, this was her plan, this was her dream. Mark was never a part of her plan. She just didn't know what to do, how to fix it once he was a factor. A lump formed in her throat when she stared down at the happy little trio who were completely unaware of what their future would hold for them.

As she looked through each photo, that niggling feeling continued to work at her brain and she knew it had something to do with Mark, so she started looking for all the pictures that included him. She found one someone took of the three of them at Joe's, Mark had his arm around her, pulling her close to him and Arizona was sitting next to her, though not as close, and all three of them were smiling into the camera. The next picture was at some hospital function and it was a side view of her dancing with Mark, angled so she could see that Mark's hand was on her lower back, almost touching her ass, and her arm was snaked under his, resting on his shoulder blade and she saw her wedding ring as plain as day, indicating she was married to Arizona when the picture was taken. When she started to put it down, she noticed Arizona sitting at a table in the background watching them and her hand was by her face, like she were wiping her eye or cheek. Coming to the next image, she saw the three of them sitting on the sofa in Meredith's house. Mark was at one end with his arm around her, she was cuddled into his side with her right hand on his thigh, and her left hand was covering Arizona's, just resting there, they weren't even holding hands, yet again, she was wearing her wedding ring. Once more, Arizona's words echoed through her mind. We should have shared that intimacy that only lovers share. You shared it with Mark though. In every single picture that contained the three of them, anyone who was on the outside looking in would certainly think that she and Mark were the couple, so why wouldn't her own girlfriend feel that way?

Her vision became blurred as she continued to look through each picture and found three years' worth of evidence supporting everything Arizona said to her the night before, everything she'd said to her for the first three years of their relationship. She kept digging and realized there wasn't even a framed photo of just the two of them on their wedding day other than the smaller one that used to sit on her bedside table and now sat in a drawer face down. She found the entire package sitting at the bottom of the box. Knowing it was going to be hard, she took out the professional pictures they had taken, and found the largest picture of just her and Arizona. She couldn't contain her smile, the joy they felt that day just screamed out at her along with her memories, feelings she hadn't allowed herself to feel in so long. With her index finger, she traced the full pink lips, the adorable, yet sexy dimples, and finally the eyes she loved so much and furrowed her brow as it finally clicked…the eyes.

She looked back at all the pictures and noticed how genuine Arizona's smile is, how her eyes seemed to sparkle and her dimples popped when it was just her and Arizona or the two of them with their daughter. She picked up the pictures that included Mark and even if Arizona was looking at the camera and smiling, there were no dimples, there was no joy in her eyes. She picked up the framed photo of their wedding day with Mark in it, looked into her ex-wife's eyes and gasped when she saw that look…the same look she saw the day before, that unnamed emotion she thought she'd never seen before. Looking down at that picture and so many others, she realized she had seen it, over and over again, she just never acknowledged it and understood now why she felt like it was taunting her.

Callie put that picture down and frantically started going through the pictures, hoping to find something different, just one image that held the three of them in which they all looked happy. It was at that moment Meredith's words came back to her once again, she did what she always does and pushed through her pain to make you happy. Her eyes stung as more tears began to flow. Deciding she was just punishing herself now, Callie started to put all the pictures back when one fell onto her lap and she looked down at it, wondering why it was even with these pictures. When she picked it up, she laughed at how young she looked then peered at the other people in the picture with her. She was wearing a wedding ring, but in this picture, Arizona wasn't wearing it's match, George was. She studied the picture, then dropped it like it had just caught fire. She was on George's left side with her left hand on his shoulder, but he was turned almost away from her and had his arm wrapped around Izzie fucking Stevens. She picked the photo up again and looked at the image of her younger self and though her lips were smiling, her eyes were not, her eyes…they held the same unnamed emotion as Arizona's. Except she knew the name of that emotion; it was heartbreak, fear, and unrequited love all rolled into one. She closed her eyes, let the shame wash over her and whispered, "I'm George," as the tears flowed even faster, her sobs became more powerful, and her entire body started trembling.

She knew she was going to go mad if she didn't talk to someone. She had to get these things off her chest. She wished like hell Dr. Carr was open today, because honestly, she wasn't ready to talk about her conversations with Arizona with anyone else. For the first time in her life, or at least in her life with Arizona, she felt this overwhelming need to protect her ex-wife's feelings and her privacy and not share every last detail of their relationship with everyone else…even if it wasn't really a relationship anymore. Her breath shuddered at that last thought and she scrambled around looking for her phone. Maybe she could call and leave a message requesting an appointment for earlier in the week. She was certain she wouldn't last until Thursday. Sighing, she remembered she didn't even take her phone out of her jacket pocket and walked across the living room, wondering if it still had any battery power left. When she tapped on the screen, she saw that she had two messages. The most recent one was from Mer, inviting her to pizza and a movie with the kids. She was in no shape, nor in the mood for people, and simply ignored the text so her friend couldn't persuade her otherwise. Opening the second message, she was slightly surprised to see a text from Arizona that was sent before 7:00 am. She quickly read it, then reread it, and her heart filled with guilt and another emotion she didn't want to name.

Arizona: I hope you were able to sleep well. I just wanted to check in. I know last night was a lot to take in. If you need to talk, I'm here.

She couldn't explain why those two little words, 'I'm here' seemed to jump from the screen, why they made her pulse race, or her heart ache and heal at the same time. Her gaze darted from the words on the phone that told her no matter what the circumstances, she could rely on Arizona, to the piles on the floor that served as proof as to why this woman should never want to speak to her again, and just that simply, the tears began to flow even harder as the sobs wracked her body. Phone still in hand, she stumbled back to the sofa, crumbled to the floor in front of it and picked up the picture that started her whole trek down memory lane. It was then that Callie realized she didn't need to talk to her therapist, the only person she needed to talk to, who could possibly understand, who needed to see her in this state, was willing to listen and she'd be a fool not to take her up on that offer. With blurry vision, she opened her messages again, allowed her finger to hover over the green call button, and slowly tapped on the screen to connect the call.

XXXX

At 11:00 am, Arizona unlocked the front door, hung her dry cleaning in the coat closet for the time being, and returned to the car to find her daughter trying to load up her little hands with far more bags than she could carry. She shook her head and tried not to laugh as she watched the little girl struggle to pick everything up. She knew this was a habit she'd learned from Callie. She thought maybe it was born from living in an apartment for so long, but her ex-wife didn't believe in making more than one trip from the car to the house after a shopping spree, no matter how much stuff they bought. She had hoped it would have changed when they moved into their house, but it never did and apparently now she had passed that lovely little quirk on to their daughter. No longer able to watch the little girl struggle, Arizona took some of the bags from her hands and gave her an out, the same out she'd often given Callie, "Hey sweetie, how about we carry in what we can, you start putting things away and I'll come back and get the rest?" Sofia seemed to contemplate the offer for a minute, she always loved helping her mommies and hardly ever got to put away the groceries. Finally, she nodded in agreement, picked up only what she felt like she could carry without hurting her hands or arms and followed her mommy to the kitchen. She knew where everything went, but she also knew mommy had to have everything a certain way. The boxes had to be sideways and you had to see the name of what was inside. The cans all had to be facing front so you could see what it was, and everything in the refrigerator went on it's own shelf. She was so excited that her mommy trusted her to do this job, she would try really hard to do her best.

After putting the last of the food away, Arizona sent Sofia to restock each bathroom with toilet paper and quickly scanned her cabinets and refrigerator to check her daughter's work. Seeing that everything was exactly how she liked it, she wondered how, with all of her and Callie's quirks, their daughter wasn't the most OCD child on the planet. Deciding to fix them an early lunch, Arizona went to the pantry to grab Sofia's favorite macaroni and cheese when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She was slightly disappointed when it wasn't accompanied by Callie's ringtone. Looking at the time before she checked her messages, she saw that it was going on 11:30 and she hadn't heard a peep from her ex-wife. She started to wonder if maybe she shouldn't have sent that text, if maybe Callie got home, replayed their conversation and found no merit in her words. While it wouldn't be the first time, it would be painful just the same.

Trying to shake those thoughts from her head, Arizona looked at her texts and saw she had missed two from Meredith and one from the hospital. Checking the hospital message first, her brow furrowed in concern as she read the morning update on the still nameless baby boy that she requested from the NICU nurse. Based on his numbers, it looked like he had a rough night and was having some trouble breathing. She'd worried about this since, like Sofia, he hadn't received the proper steroids to strengthen his lungs until after he was born. This time, it was no one's fault, it was actually her first intent until she realized the sac was ruptured and she needed to remove him immediately. She looked down the hall where she could hear her daughter singing and hated the idea of making her spend her Saturday in the hospital. She knew she would understand and she had such a big heart where the tiny humans were concerned, but she had very few weekends with her daughter and she didn't want these to be the memories she carried with her as an adult. Just as she picked up her phone to call the hospital to check the baby's status and see if there was a need for her to come in, her phone began to vibrate in her hand. Looking down at the display, she saw that it was Meredith and realized she hadn't even read her messages yet.

Arizona quickly connected the call, hoping something hadn't happened, or more specifically hadn't happened to Callie, and greeted, "Hey Grey, we've been running errands all morning and I just saw that you messaged me. Is, ah, is everything okay?" Meredith quirked her brow, wondering why the blonde would ask her that, then realized it wasn't such an odd question after all, since she rarely called her or reached out to her unless it was work related. Even when she made plans concerning Sofia, she did so through Callie who would check with Arizona. She sighed heavily when she felt a pang of guilt over that fact. Here she was preaching to Callie about how she treated Arizona, when in truth, she wasn't much better. After the two of them divorced, somehow she just firmly settled herself in Callie's camp. At this exact moment, she wasn't sure why. Arizona was her friend too, they'd been through a horrible ordeal together and while she understood and could relate to what the other woman was going through a lot of the time, she never reached out. She realized that Callie wasn't the only person who had some soul searching to do where the blonde was concerned.

She was broken from her thoughts when she heard the concerned, "Meredith, are you okay? Do you need me to come get the kids?" Again, the question threw her off guard. She didn't reach out, she didn't maintain their friendship, yet Arizona was still extending her hand, offering her friendship. Shaking her head, she finally responded with a chuckle, "No, no sorry, I uh, got distracted, three kids underfoot will do that to you." Arizona laughed in response and suggested, "I can take Zola if you'd like, I'm sure Sofia would love that." Shaking her head in disbelief at the generosity, Meredith returned, "Actually that's why I'm calling. I was hoping to borrow Sofia. I know you don't have her much, so you can say no, it wouldn't hurt my feelings, but Maggie and I are taking the kids out to a movie and to that new pizza arcade place that just opened up. Zo-Zo has been begging for Sofia to come since last night and I didn't want to impose, but you'd really be doing me a favor." She stopped then as an idea popped into her mind and she suggested, "You know what, why don't you come too? It would be fun." Arizona flinched and she blinked her eyes in surprise. This was something she was definitely not expecting.

After thinking about it for only a few seconds, she replied, "You know, that sounds like a lot of fun. I haven't made lunch yet, what would you think about flipping it around and going for pizza first?" Meredith let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, smiled and answered, "Much better idea. Maybe they won't beg for as much crap at the movie." Arizona laughed out loud and asked, "Have you met our kids?" The other surgeon laughed with her, then they agreed on a time and said their goodbyes. Arizona called the hospital to check on the baby, felt relief wash over her to learn his lungs had cleared and he was now resting comfortably and directed the nurse to call her if their was any change. She stared down at her phone, contemplating on whether or not to invite Callie. She always loved these places and while she claimed she was earning the tickets for Sofia, Arizona knew it was her competitive nature that made her keep pouring tokens into the machines. Seeing she still didn't get a response and Callie surely had to be awake by this point, she figured maybe she needed more time and space and the last thing she wanted to do was suffocate or smother her. While she was beginning to enjoy their time together, she never knew how long this period of peace would last or what the breaking point would be, so she would tread carefully and allow things to happen as they happened, for better or for worse.

When Arizona and Sofia arrived at the pizza place, the blonde couldn't contain her laughter at the relieved look on Meredith and Maggie's faces as they jumped out of the SUV faster than the kids did. Still chuckling, Arizona asked, "Rough morning?" Meredith rolled her eyes, "It was a zoo…" "The zoo? We go to the zoo? I wanna see the gir…" Maggie put her finger to her nephew's mouth and explained, "No Bailey, we are not going to the zoo. Your mom was saying you were acting like animals." Seeing the little boy pout nearly broke her heart, so she reached out, tickled his tummy and excitedly shared, "Inside that building though, there are all kinds of games and singing and dancing animals, and you can win prizes and eat yummy food. Would you like that?" Bailey nodded his head, grabbed her hand and commanded, "Let's go." All the adults laughed and Meredith stood astounded as Arizona rounded her car, opened the back door, removed Ellis from her car seat and cooed, "Hey little one, how are you? I bet you'll love these lights, won't you? It's going to be noisy in there, but don't be scared, big noises aren't scary. No they're not." The taller blonde watched in amazement as her daughter who was usually fussy with people she wasn't used to just stared into those twinkling blue eyes and started giggling at the silly voices her colleague was making.

Once they were inside, ordered their lunch, filled the kids' game cards with enough money to keep them occupied for a while, Arizona and Meredith sat across the table from each other, watching and laughing as the three kids pulled Maggie from one game to another. Arizona fed Ellis another Cheerio then reached for a napkin to wipe the slobber from both her hand and the baby's chin. Meredith offered, "I can take her, really." Arizona looked up, pulled the baby closer and warned, "Don't you dare! I miss this." She looked at Sofia as she ran around the arcade, virtually on her own and sighed, "You don't realize how fast they will grow up. Seeing that poor little boy, holding him in my arms, being reminded of how small she once was…to look at her now, you'd never know how hard she had to fight." Meredith studied Arizona, the dreamy look in her eyes when she looked down at her daughter, speaking in that silly voice as she fed her more cereal, and surprised even herself when she asked, "Have you ever thought of having more?" The instant the words came out of her mouth, she knew she had just stuck her foot in it.

Arizona froze for only a second. Meredith's question caught her off guard, surely she knew their sordid history surrounding the whole baby issue, and for just a fleeting moment, wondered if this were some sort of fishing expedition. When she heard the gasp and looked up to see the other woman covering her mouth, looking at her with remorse filling her slate-blue eyes, Arizona knew it was just something that came out naturally. While she thought about just letting it go, she decided, though she didn't know for certain what other people knew, she knew they didn't know her side of things because she'd never told anyone. Still looking at the baby and smiling, Arizona responded, "We tried, once. Shortly after um, I got back on my feet so to speak. It was at your shower for Bailey that I just decided I wanted to try to carry." Meredith furrowed her brow in confusion. She'd never heard this. She'd never heard anything but how Arizona never wanted kids. After seeing her with Sofia for five years and with Ellis for just a few minutes, she had a hard time believing that was still true.

Arizona shook her head and her voice quivered as she continued, "I, my body wasn't ready apparently. I went in for my eight week check up and there was no heartbeat. I just…I couldn't try again after that, I wasn't ready for a long time." Meredith had no idea she and Arizona had another thing in common. Reaching across the table, she took the pale hand in hers, squeezed tightly, and sincerely replied, "I'm so sorry Arizona, I had no idea." Arizona looked up at her, smiled sadly, and shook her head answering, "No, I never told anyone and uh…" Not wanting to say anything negative about Callie to one of her best friends, Arizona just cut herself off and was more than a little surprised when the other blonde finished, "And Torres just wanted to move forward, pretend it didn't happen." Meredith knew she was right when she saw the pain flash in the other woman's eyes. She understood why she stopped talking, why she didn't tell her Callie's response. It wasn't complimentary and if there was one thing she could say about Arizona, it was that she'd never heard her speak poorly about her ex-wife, no matter how Callie was treating her. If she had something to say, she said it to Callie. It was one of the biggest differences between the two women and something she greatly admired in the fetal surgeon.

Arizona snuggled Ellis, smelled her baby shampoo, took comfort in her squishy little body and continued, "Shortly before I took the fellowship, we talked about it again. That's when we found out Callie couldn't carry and I was still too scared. We'd talked about getting a surrogate. That fear though, it just wouldn't go away and part of me, I think part of me knew that we both wanted a baby because it might help us forget all the rest you know. When I was offered the fellowship, I saw it as a sign that maybe we needed to slow down, get on more solid ground, think about it again once the fellowship was over. Maybe, if I was a fetal surgeon, I would know, ya know. I could catch something before it went wrong this time. I couldn't help Sofia, I couldn't save my other baby, but if I was a fetal surgeon…" She shook her head then and finished sadly, "So, long story short, yes, Mer, I've thought about having more kids. I've always wanted more. It just, life had other plans." Meredith watched her for a moment longer, thought about the tiny orphaned boy lying in the NICU and suggested, "It's never too late." Arizona kissed the top of Ellis' head and teased, "Nah, I'll just steal yours." Meredith laughed and replied, "Some days I'd happily drop them at your doorstep AND pay child support." Both women started laughing at that and slipped into an easy conversation which actually surprised each of them.

A worn out Maggie and three hyped up kids returned to the table at the same time the food arrived and while the kids were talking over one another, regaling them with how many tickets they won and what prizes they would get, Arizona's phone rang out over the noise and she immediately reached for it. Sofia's little head popped up and she asked, "Is that mama? That's her song. Can she come to the movie with us?" Looking at the time, Arizona saw that it was almost 3:30 pm and wondered why Callie would be calling at such an odd time. She occasionally called to say goodnight to Sofia, they both did, but they tried to be respectful of each other's time with their daughter. Furrowing her brow, she instantly became worried that Callie was upset, or worse yet, angry. Hoping she was just calling to let her know she was okay; she connected the call and covered her ear so she could hear what her ex-wife was saying.

Callie sucked in a deep breath when she heard Arizona's voice greet, "Hey, did you get my…" She cut her off with a sob and asked, "Can you…I need…" Arizona furrowed her brow in concern, the restaurant was noisy, but it wasn't so noisy that she couldn't tell Callie was crying almost to the point of hyperventilating." Looking up at Meredith, she saw the same concern cross her face when she asked, "Callie, talk to me, what's happened?" All Arizona could hear was hysterical sobs and finally she heard, "Arizona, I don't…I don't deserve it, I know, but can you…please. I need to talk." The blonde's heart broke for her ex-wife as she realized she had taken the time to reflect or brood and now she was spiraling. Looking up helplessly, she received a nod from Meredith and asked, "Where are you?" Callie sighed in relief and replied, "I'm…I'm at home…I'm so sor…" Arizona cut her off and soothed, "Shhh, it's okay, there's nothing to be sorry about. You stay right where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm less than twenty minutes away." Callie sniffled again then hung up without saying goodbye.

Meredith was studying Arizona's expression the whole time she was on the phone with her ex-wife. She listened to how calmly she spoke to her while the panic in her eyes and on her face said she felt anything but calm. Standing up, she nodded her head toward the door, then as they passed the kids at the table, she waited for Arizona to kiss Sofia and wondered what she would tell her. Arizona bent down next to her daughter's chair and explained, "Hey big girl, you were right, that was mama and she's not feeling very well. She asked if I could come by and take care of her for a bit. Would you mind going to the movie without me?" Sofia looked up from her pizza and asked, "Is mama sick, does she need the hospital?" Arizona shook her head and replied, "Her head feels a little funny and her tummy hurts, but she will be fine." She knew none of those things were quite the truth, but they also weren't lies. Callie's head was an absolute mess and she was certain she was making herself sick from the crying. Sofia nodded, kissed her mommy then gave her another kiss on her other cheek and ordered, "That one was for mama. Don't confuse them okay?" Arizona smiled and replied, "Of course not. I'll make sure she gets it."

Once the two surgeons reached the door, Arizona looked up into concerned slate-blue eyes and asked, "Are you sure you don't mind?" Meredith shook her head and answered, "I don't mind at all. I don't know if I should be telling you this or maybe you already know, but Callie is trying to work through some things and I've been pretty straightforward with her about some stuff. She's been doing a great deal of reflecting and I um, I want you to be prepared. I mean, I could tell by the look on your face that she was clearly upset and you were concerned. I just…she's trying to become a better person Arizona and I think she thinks she can't do that until she tries to make things right with you." Arizona knew Callie had been talking to Meredith, though it didn't sound to her like the general surgeon knew they'd been talking as well. Callie was always an over sharer, so the fact that she hadn't discussed their private talks, her own feelings with other people, made her feel better about trusting her ex-wife with those emotions. Rather than share those conversations herself, Arizona nodded and replied, "Thanks for the heads up. It makes more sense now. Text me after the movie and I'll come get her." Meredith stood awkwardly for a moment then leaned in to give the shorter woman a hug and whispered, "Good luck. I really hope this helps both of you heal." Arizona smiled and replied, "Me too and thank you."

XXXX

Exactly ten minutes later, Arizona stood outside of the house she used to share with her family and knew she would be bombarded with memories once she walked through the door. She hadn't stepped foot inside since she moved out. She always stayed on the porch when she picked Sofia up or dropped her off, or she would text from the car letting her ex know she was in the driveway. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside, having no idea what to expect. She could only assume their conversation the night before was the cause for this little breakdown. When she stepped into the living room, she was shocked to see it scattered with photos and tissues and even more surprised to see Callie sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, knees pulled to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Arizona quickly tossed her keys on the end table, carefully lowered herself to the floor so she could sit next to her, wrapped her arm around her shoulder, and soothed, "I'm here Callie, I'm here. You're okay. Everything is going to be okay."

As soon as she felt Arizona's touch, heard her soft lilting voice, Callie turned, buried her head in her chest, wrapped her arm around her waist and cried even harder. Since she'd hung up the phone, all she'd done was go through more pictures, find more examples of instances where she and Mark had crossed the line or where he had and she'd let him. Arizona lifted her left hand to run through Callie's hair and massage her scalp which, like their daughter, always calmed her down, and lowered her right hand to scratch lightly at her ex-wife's back which also used to soothe her when she was upset. While she continued to whisper calming words, Arizona looked around at the piles of photos and tried to figure out what had Callie so upset. Obviously it had something to do with her and Mark since all of the pictures contained one or both of them with Callie, Sofia, or with the two of them together. Feeling Callie's body start to relax and the sobs become soft whimpers, Arizona started to relax as well. She always hated seeing Callie upset and it didn't matter how much time had passed or how well they were getting along, she always would. Her heart broke in two when Callie croaked out, "How did you not hate me?"

A/N: I know some of you were shocked by Callie's reaction to Arizona's revelations and how she didn't fight back. One of the things I've always wanted was for Callie to step outside of her own box and look at things from Arizona's point of view. As for her apology, it was rather anticlimactic for a reason, which should come through loud and clear in this chapter.