Saturday, December 24, 2016, 11:30 AM

Callie knocked once on Meredith's front door then opened it. "Hello?" she called out.

"Kitchen!" Meredith answered back.

Callie hung up her coat and went into the kitchen, finding Meredith and Zola making meatballs. "Merry Christmas!" she said. "Need any help?"

"Hi, Callie," Zola said. "We're making meatballs."

"I see that."

"Merry Christmas, Callie, and yes, we could use some help. I need to get these into the crockpot so they'll be ready for the party."

Callie washed her hands in the kitchen sink, then joined them.

"No Sofia?"

"She's with Arizona, delivering the cookie baskets at the hospital. Arizona said she'd drop her off when they were done so she and Zola could spend some time together."

"Sofia will be here?" Zola asked. Her smile was wide at the news that she'd see her friend for the first time since Sofia had moved to New York.

"Yes."

Callie took over browning the meatballs while Meredith and Zola finished off making them. As they worked, Meredith gave Callie a PG version of the latest gossip at Grey-Sloan. Callie knew Meredith had a ton of questions for her, but with Zola with them, her friend had kept quiet. Callie also knew that as soon as Zola was out of the room, the questions would come fast and furious. Since Callie's arrival in Seattle, she hadn't seen Meredith yet, or anyone from the hospital, other than Bailey. She'd spent all her time with Sofia and Arizona.

They were almost done getting all the meatballs into the crockpot when the doorbell rang. "Would you get that, Callie?" Meredith asked.

"Sure. It's probably Arizona and Sofia," she said as she opened the door to find the two most important people in her life.

"Zola!" Sofia squealed when she saw Zola behind Callie.

"Sofia!" Zola squealed back.

Arizona and Callie both chuckled as the two girls hugged. Zola took Sofia's hand and led her up to her room, chattering about all the things they wanted to share with one another.

"How goes the KP?" Arizona said, suddenly feeling awkward in bad memories. The last time she'd dropped Sofia off at Meredith's was when she'd given Callie custody and two plane tickets.

"The what?"

"KP, you know, kitchen patrol."

"Right, Military jargon," Callie rolled her eyes. "Okay. Almost done." She looked around the room, nerves suddenly flooding her body. "Do you, um, want to come in?"

"No, thanks. You two probably need some time alone to catch up" Arizona adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder. "I have presents," she lowered her voice so Sofia couldn't hear. "From Santa that I need to wrap."

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you later when I bring Sofia home to change?" Arizona nodded. "You are coming to the party, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course."

"Good, good. Well, I'll let you get back to the wrapping then."

"See you later."

She watched from the doorway as Arizona returned to her car and drove off. She mentally berated herself at the awkward exchange.

"You look like you could use a glass of wine or a shot of tequila," Meredith said from behind her, causing Callie to nearly jump.

"Wine, but only one glass," Callie sighed. "I still need to take Sofia home and then come back for the party later."

Calie sat down at the kitchen table and Meredith took out a bottle of wine and two glasses. "So, Bailey told me something interesting," Meredith said as she filled their glasses.

"Oh? What's that?" Callie was immediately on guard.

"We're going to be hiring a new ortho surgeon. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" she asked slyly.

Callie took a long drink from her glass of wine in anticipation of her friend's next question. But Meredith just waited for Callie to speak. "Okay, fine," Callie said after the silence began to get to her. "You've got that whole 'waiting them out' down, you know? Did you take lessons from Bailey?"

Meredith laughed. "Answer the question."

"Yes, I'm coming back to Seattle, only I don't exactly know when."

"What about Blake? Is she coming too?"

Callie laughed bitterly. "No. She won't." She gave Meredith an abbreviated version of what had happened in New York. "Arizona had offered to come to New York, for Sofia, y'know, so we could co-parent."

"I'm glad she isn't. We need her at the hospital."

"It makes more sense for me to come back. I just need to see if I can break my contract. If not, I won't be here until June."

"So you and Arizona?"

"What about us?"

Meredith gave Callie a pointed look. Callie usually was the queen of oversharing, but sometimes she could be deliberately evasive, or even clueless. "What's going on between you two? You've been staying with her since you got here."

"For Sofia," she emphasized.. "And I'm sleeping on a pull-out sofa in her den."

"Mmmm." Meredith took another sip from her glass. "And how's that going?"

"Great, I mean, it's been really nice. It's all for Sofia," she defended, then she looked down. "But it's like, well, like it used to be."

"But you're not together."

"No, we're not, but…"

"Callie…" Meredith sighed. "Do you want to be?"

"Yes, no, I don't know." She drained her glass of wine. "I never should've left, Mer. I've missed her."

"MIssed Arizona, or just don't want to be alone."

"Missed her." She looked at her now empty glass. "I was so angry for so long. But being alone, without her, I had a lot of time to think."

"And?"

"I found out I was no longer angry and that I had forgiven her." She shifted in her chair. "I want a second chance, or maybe it's a third or fourth chance, I lost count. I want another chance with her."

"You love her."

"I never stopped loving her, not really." She sighed. "I just don't know if she still loves me, or if she's forgiven me for the way she was treated at the custody hearing. I don't know if I could if I was her."

"Yeah, that was pretty nasty," Mer agreed. She didn't need or want to rehash that. She knew Callie felt badly about it after it was over. "Maybe you should talk, find out where she's at."

"Maybe." Callie shrugged her shoulders.

Mer chuckled. "You two suck at communicating." Callie scowled. "Maybe you should change that. You won't know until you do."

"I suppose." Callie looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "I'd better get Sofia home. We'll be back later. Six o'clock, right?"

"Yes, or earlier if you want."

Callie stood up and then rinsed her glass out in the sink. "Thanks, Mer."

Saturday, December 24, 2016, 5:00 PM

As she rummaged through her suitcase for a bra, Callie was embarrassed to see how messy her "room" had become in a few short days. She had clean and dirty clothes all over and now she couldn't find her bra. She reached her hand into a side pocket of the bag, and as she grasped the missing bra, her fingers brushed against something cold and metallic. Curious, she forgot about the bra and pulled out the mystery item.

"My necklace," she whispered, holding up the silver heart and necklace. "What's it doing in my suitcase?" She clenched it tightly in her hand, overcome with the memories it brought. The what was, the what might have been, and even the what could be, filled her thoughts. It was only a knock on the door that stopped them.

"Callie? Are you almost ready?" Arizona asked through the door.

"Not quite."

"Do you want us to wait and we can all ride over together?"

"Sure, just give me a few." Callie set the necklace on the desk and hurriedly got dressed. As she reached for the doorknob, she paused and impulsively picked up the necklace, slipping it on and tucking it under her top. She wondered, even hoped, that it would bring some Christmas magic.

She opened the door to find Arizona and Sofia waiting. Arizona was wearing a blue sweater with snowmen on it and Sofia was wearing a green one with reindeer. The sweaters weren't quite as bad as most "ugly sweaters" she'd seen but they were also bordering on over-the-top holiday attire. It was then she noticed Arizona's hands were behind her she had a look on her face that was half-guilty, half-mischievous.

"So we have something for you," Arizona said with a grin.

"Arizona, what did you do?"

"We didn't want you to feel left out," Arizona said, moving her hands from behind her back and thrusting a bag into Callie's hand. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mama!"

Callie opened the bag and held up the red sweater with candy canes embroidered on it. She tried not to frown. Sofia was so excited that she didn't have the heart to deny her.

"You've already given me pajamas for Christmas morning. Isn't that enough?" she whined.

"Sofia picked it out," Arizona said, lightly chastising Callie.

"Well, um, thank you. It's, um, very bright."

"And Christmassy," Sofia added.

"That it is."

"Well, put it on and then we get going to Meredith's. We don't want to be late, and I have cookies for everyone."

Resigned to her fate, Callie pulled the sweater over her head. "Ready."

Saturday, December 24, 2016, 9:30 PM

Arizona sat down on the couch beside April, who held a sleeping Harriet. "She is absolutely beautiful," she complimented her friend.

"Thank you. I think so." April was a proud mom and not afraid to show it.

Arizona sipped from her second cup of eggnog. It had been heavily spiked with bourbon and she needed to slow down. She didn't need to be drunk or tipsy tonight. She and Callie still had to get Sofia to bed later and then put out all the presents. And being around Callie while she was feeling the effects of alcohol coupled with all the confusing feelings about her ex-wife was definitely not a good idea.

"Your sweaters are cute," April commented.

"Thanks. Didn't take long for Callie to ditch it, though," Arizona chuckled. Callie had made it a whole hour before she took the sweater off.

"You look like a little family."

"What? No," Arizona said with a shake of her head. "I bought sweaters for Sofia and I before I knew Callie was coming. Sofia wanted us to all have sweaters."

"Right." Harriet began to fuss and April shifted her position, causing her to settle once again. "How's that going? I was surprised you have Callie staying with you."

"It made sense to have her stay with Sofia and I," Arizona answered, ignoring April's first question. "She's been a big help with everything, and Sofia loves having us both there for Christmas."

"Where's Blake?"

"Not my story to tell," Arizona said simply, taking another sip. "Let's just say they're not together and haven't been."

Arizona couldn't hide the small smile that came to her face. It wasn't so small that April didn't notice, however. "You didn't answer my first question."

"What?"

"How's it going, with Callie?"

Arizona sighed. "It's been nice, but I think it has disaster written all over it."

"What? Why?"

""Because every time we've been together these past few days, I find myself smiling. And I find myself smiling more every time I think about her moving back here."

"Why is that a disaster?"

"Because she left me. I mean, 'cause she left me, and then she left me again, but it was worse, because that time she had my daughter, and what? Yeah. I mean, now because she's single and I'm single? No. No, no, no. No one has ever, in the history of my life, hurt me like Callie."

"People change, you know, and life... life changes us, and our one job... really, our only job... is to... is to stay open to possibilities, right? I mean, it's not stupid. It's not a disaster that Callie's making you smile again."

Arizona fixed her friend with a stare of respect and amazement. "How'd you get to be so wise?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's being a mom?" April said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "All I know is that you've maybe been given a chance, a do-over. There are a lot of people here who wish they had that chance," Her gaze flicked over at Meredith then down at Harriet. "Me included," she whispered.

Arizona reached over and gave April's hand a squeeze in comfort. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in thought.

"I think I'm going to head home," April said.

"And I need to find Callie and get Sofia home. I think Sofia is just about due for the sugar crash."

Arizona helped April gather her things and packed Harriet's bag for her. After giving April a goodbye hug at the door, Arizona went in search of Callie. She spotted her heading into the kitchen and followed her in.

"Hey," she said softly. "Having a good time?"

"Yeah, it's been nice catching up with everyone."

"I was thinking we should probably get going. Sofia's up way past her bedtime."

"Up late maybe she won't be up at the ass crack of dawn to see what Santa brought," Callie joked.

"Good point." Arizona rinsed her glass in the sink. "Are you okay to drive? I've had two glasses of the eggnog and it really packs a punch."

"Yeah, I'm good. I only had a glass of wine when we first got here." She finished clearing the counters of the dirty paper plates. Looking up, she saw that Arizona was standing under mistletoe. She hadn't noticed it before.

"Arizona.." At the sound of her voice, Arizona turned around. Summoning up courage she didn't know she had, Callie leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on Arizon''s cheek.

"Callie?"

"Mistletoe," Callie mumbled.

It was then that Arizona saw the necklace around Callie's neck and it emboldened her. She gently placed her hand on Callie's cheek and kissed her. Softly at first, then she deepened it. She stepped back, leaving a stunned Callie, "I'm gonna go get Sofia."

With a smile on her face, Callie watched her walk away. The kiss felt familiar, like coming home. It reminded her of their first kiss, and she wondered if it meant a fresh start for them.