"Hey, I'm taking off now. See you in a couple hours!" Arizona typed out, sending the message to Teddy, her best friend. "So excited to see you :)" She put her phone on airplane mode, sliding it back into her pocket. It had been a little over seven years since she was last in Seattle. Then she looked over to her sleeping twins, Timothy and Cameron, giving them a slight smile.

That was when she left the love of her life crying in an airport, and never looked back. She never asked about Callie, or anyone else for that matter. It hurt too much to talk about. Too scared to go back home, she extended her contract in Africa four times, using a different excuse on family and Teddy each day that passed.

Across the world, Callie was making breakfast. "Mads, you're gonna be late!" She called down the hallway. Then came a loud groan, "I'll be ready in 10 minutes." Callie laughed quietly, Mark wrapping his arms around her from behind. He kissed her on the neck, his growing stubble scratching her. "I'll take the girls to school."

She smiled back at him, handing him a to-go cup of coffee. "Thank you, my love. Remember our appointment, 5pm." He nodded, Sofia skipping out of her room. Her long black hair was arranged neatly in a French braid, and she looked absolutely adorable in her huge uniform. "Oh, my baby." Callie smiled, wrapping her in a tight.

"I'm going to school today!" She said, shooting her parents a toothless grin as she put her Frozen backpack on.

Both Callie and Mark felt their hearts tighten. Though they didn't want to upset Sofia, so they both kept their small smiles on their faces. "That's right Sof, are you excited?" Mark put a bowl of cereal in front of her. The elder came out of her room, her blonde hair tucked back in a headband. "She shouldn't be. School is so stupid." Sofia furrowed her brow. "Bad word, Emmy."

Mark chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. "That's right Sofia." Callie smiled, "You'll love school baby, it'll be super fun." After a quick breakfast, Callie started making lunches for both girls. As they walked out the door with Mark, Callie's heart sank. Both her girls were back at school, and a whole year older.

Mark forced both his daughters to take about a billion photos in front of the large brick building. He waved them off, Maddie walking Sofia to her class in the kindergarten building. 'Look at our girls. Attachments: 10 images.' Callie scrolled through the photos from her husband, smiling at each one.

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-

The baggage compartment opened, and a large carry-on tumbled onto Arizona's foot, causing her to yelp in pain. "Shit!" She sighed, grabbing her duffel bag. "I'm so sorry!" An older man apologized profusely, but Arizona, grumbling, hobbled off the plane. "Are you okay mama?" The young boy asked, slinging his backpack around his shoulder. Cameron looked up at her mom, her green eyes wide with worry. "What happened mama?"

"Why are you walking like you just got pegged?" Teddy chuckled, teasing her best friend. "Shut up!" Arizona laughed, limping towards the baggage claim. "We should get you to the hospital, just to check. Can't have the new head of peds limping!" Teddy remarked, causing Arizona to narrow her eyes. Timmy and Cam ran up to Teddy, throwing themselves into their godmother's arms. "Aunt Teddy!"

"Just take me to Seattle Pres." Henry grabbed the blond's suitcase for her, and the three of them walked back to Teddy's SUV. "Why, oh..." Teddy grinned, starting the engine. "You're scared of your ex!" She and Henry turned around, laughing at Arizona.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Ok fine, are too." Arizona groaned, "Of course. Just my luck." As they drove, Teddy and Arizona indulged in their classic carpool karaoke. "We're taking you to Seattle Grace, I don't even think Torres is working today, it's the first day of school." Why wouldn't she be working on the first day of school? What did that have to do with anything? Nevertheless, Arizona felt slightly reassured.

After parking, Teddy and Henry went off to work and decided to put Cameron and Timothy in the hospital daycare, leaving Arizona stranded in the ER. "Damn, things are different." She inspected the place before being checked out by her old favorite nurse, Denise. "I'm going to page ortho, just to take a look. Glad you're back, Robbins!" Arizona smiled through the pain, waiting for her doctor.

A few minutes later, none other than Callie Torres opened the door, busy with a chart. "Ari-" She looked up, meeting Arizona's piercing blue eyes. Callie looked as beautiful as ever, even after seven years. "I..." The brunette stood there awkwardly for a second before pulling a chair up to the bed, silently examining her leg.

Then Arizona spotted it, a beautiful wedding ring pinned to Callie's scrub top. Before she could stop the words, "You're married?" flew from her mouth. Callie looked up, then back at her ring. "Yeah." Arizona sighed. She broke up with Callie, who had every right to move on. "To who?"

Damn, Arizona was still as bold as ever. "Why?" She chuckled, pressing on Arizona's injury. "Sorry, oh my gosh, I didn't mean to be so rude." She shrugged, "No problem. Figured Teddy would've told you." The blond nodded, noticing Callie dodging her question. "Does that hurt?"

"Yeah." Callie sighed, picking the chart back up. "I'm going to order an x-ray, does that sound alright?" Arizona smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Sure, thanks." The brunette awkwardly walked off with her chart to the Nurses' Station, where Meredith and Cristina were laughing.

"Rollergirl's back?" Cristina laughed, Callie nodding in annoyance. "She's back, and cheery as ever." She rolled her eyes, while Meredith leaned on the desk. "What's she in for anyway?" Putting the chart down, she sighed. "Sprained ankle, nothing too bad."

Cristina sarcastically pouted, "Ex-lesbos greet each other so... romantically." Callie gave her the finger, walking off to order her scans. Teddy joined Arizona after a couple of minutes of loneliness. "Teds, who is Callie married to?" The other woman sighed, kicking her feet up.

"I don't know, I don't want to get in the middle of you two." Arizona whined, pleading for her to just rip the bandaid off. "I mean, the woman acted like her worst nightmare was a penis. Now I'm guessing it's a man, right?"

Teddy completely ignored her, "So, when do you start?" The blond groaned, looking up at the clock. "4:30, so... almost 7 hours." A nurse came back in and discharged Arizona, who was eager to leave.

"Alright, Dr. Robbins." Richard grinned, holding a surgeon's ID badge and pager. "Lab coat is in the attending's lounge. Seattle Grace is lucky to have you back." He patted her on the shoulder, placing the items on the table.

"Thank you, Dr. Webber!" Arizona picked up her new pager and ID, excited to attach one of her new Disney-themed badge reels to it. Then she left the familiar office, feeling the stares of coworkers following her, along with their hushed conversations. She stopped by to see her son, hugging him nervously as she left to work.

At the end of the hallway, she saw Mark Sloan with two young girls. The older was tan, with sandy blonde hair and dusty blue eyes, wearing a school uniform, she had all of Mark's features. The younger had long black hair, absolutely adorable, and looked like a carbon copy of Callie. These had to be Callie's kids. Shit, they were wearing the same uniform as her kids' new school.

Mark looked up, freezing when he saw her, but she just turned around. "What. The. Hell." She mouthed to herself, going back to her floor. She was in two specialties, fetal and pediatrics; in Africa, she had pursued a second fellowship. Skimming through her rather empty schedule, her next appointment was an ultrasound, nothing fun or exciting, which was expected on her first day.

She called Teddy to talk about her recent findings but went straight to voicemail as she saw Callie and Mark walk in together. A nurse took them back to a room, and once again, it dawned on her. They were married, had kids, and apparently were going to have another one. To be honest, it stung in every part of her body, especially her throbbing foot.

After a couple of minutes, a nurse called her back to perform the ultrasound. Reluctantly, she crept back to their room, both of them letting out a sigh as they saw her walk back in. "We can get another do-" Callie began, but Arizona held up her hand. "It's fine. We're professionals." She pulled up a swivel chair, "This might feel a little cold. Guessing you're an expert, y'know... three kids and all." Her voice was tinged with resentment as Callie's face went white, and she looked as if she saw a ghost.

But as soon as Arizona saw the screen, she grinned. "He looks absolutely perfect, strong heartbeat, measuring right on track for 18 weeks. Congratulations." Mark's eyes widened, a smile spreading across his face as he kissed his wife. "He?" Arizona nodded, "Yes, it's a boy." The couple was incredibly excited, seeing as they had two girls already. Arizona smiled, her heart still sinking. She had always envisioned having a family with her Callie, except she messed that up horribly. "Congrats again." She said softly, going back to the NICU.

Leaning against the wall, she exhaled deeply. Practically swimming in mountains of paperwork, her blue eyes traveled to the NICU wall, covered in loads of photos. One particularly caught her eye, it was Mark and an adorable, tiny baby with black hair. 'Proud daddy, and Sofia.' Ah, so that was Sofia she saw earlier. The little girl was quite cute, but Teddy had never told her that Callie had any kids, let alone a baby that was premature.

Alex caught her staring and grinned. "What? You just saw that? You can ask me, I know things." She scoffed, "Karev, I thought you would've improved at least a little in seven years!" They both chuckled, and then she caved. "What happened?"

Alex sighed, looking up at the photo. "They were going on a trip to see Mark's family with Emma, their older daughter. Suddenly, a drunk driver swerved and ran them off the road. Torres didn't have a seatbelt on... Boom, right through the windshield, unconscious on the hood of their car. Emma and Mark were pretty much okay; he was a little more banged up. Callie had a couple of surgeries, so they had to deliver Sofia early. Three months in the hospital for both." The blond's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, that's horrible.." Alex nodded, spinning back around to his laptop.

Well, maybe Callie Torres' life wasn't picture perfect.

And to be honest, neither was hers.

After picking Timothy and Cam up, they got settled back at her new apartment. "Momma, I'm hungry." The young boy whined. "Hey mister, set the table and maybe dinner can come a little sooner." She teased back, making the six-year-old groan. "You too little miss!" She mocked anger at her daughter, who was younger by three minutes. Arizona stood over the pot of boiling water, stirring the Mac and Cheese. "Eat up Timmy, you need all your energy for school tomorrow!" He shot her a toothy grin, quickly shoving the food in his mouth. Cameron ate slowly, "Why do you eat like that Timmy? Stop!" They bickered back and forth before Arizona shot them a glance, both of them straightening out.

"Ok buddy, go take a bath before bed. I'll be there to tuck you in.. how about, 20 minutes? Cami you wait for him ok? Then you take a bath." The blond raised an eyebrow as the young boy ran off with a nod. As promised, twenty minutes later she came in to tuck her son in. Truly, she adored her little boy. Arizona sat on the edge of the bed, and read his favorite story before turning on his Lion King night light. "Goodnight, Timmy. I love you," She said softly, her son snoring in response.

She walked into Cameron's room and put her long dirty-blond waves into a braid, for the "mermaid hair" as the six year old called it. "Goodnight my sweet girl. I'll see you in the morning." Arizona kissed her on the forehead, pulling the pink fairy covers just reaching the young girl's neck.

Going back to the couch, accompanied by a glass of wine. Arizona sighed, looking through old photos. When Timmy and Cameron were starting kindergarten in the international school, when they were just babies, then she reached a photo of her and Callie. They looked like infants, and she finally realized how much time had passed.

It was a dangerous thing to have feelings for your ex. Her happily married, mom of three ex.

A/N: this is a new book! thank you for reading, and i promise to update 1-2x a week.