Notes:Who doesn't love dressing up as queer baseball players and meetings with HR?
Also the moment with Arizona and Callie as they are walking home at the end makes me laugh every time I read it.
/ / /
Arizona looked at herself in the mirror and really couldn't believe this was her life.
She was dressed in a Rockford Peach uniform with her hair tied back and under a baseball cap and her pink skirt hanging neatly. Callie was in a matching uniform and even Sofia had one. Though she refused to keep her hat on.
It was Halloween tonight and they were going over to Grey's house for a party with residents, attendings, and all manner of people. They had already done Trick or Treating at the hospital on the peds ward. Arizona set it up to bring a little joy to the kids.
While vampires tended to avoid this night out of principle. When Callie asked, it had been right after some truly earth shattering sex, Arizona couldn't say no.
"Ready to go?" Callie asked. "The babysitter is here, and I am ready to have a night where I am not a mom or setting someone's bones."
"Honey, it's a Halloween party at a doctor's version of a frat house. Do you really think you won't set a nose or pop a shoulder in or something tonight?" Arizona asked as she slipped her wallet into the pocket of her uniform.
"Fair," Callie laughed.
They took a cab over to Meredith's house and found the place was swarmed with zombies, hot doctors and nurses, and all other sorts. As they got out of the car, the smell of beer hit.
"Ready to relive college?" Callie teased Arizona as they walked toward the house hand in hand.
"Oh, yeah," Arizona snorted.
/
After about three hours of mingling, dancing and drinking human alcohol that wouldn't have her catching a buzz, Arizona made her way into the kitchen to see if she could find some water to get the taste of cheap beer out of her mouth.
"I can't believe you're wearing that," Cristina Yang said as she sat at the table with her back to the wall.
"Why?" Arizona asked. "Not a League of Their Own fan?"
"What kind of vampire dresses up for Halloween?" Cristina asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"The same kind that comes to a Halloween part at their best friend's house?" Arizona answered back. She knew Cristina and Callie were friends but she hadn't interacted much with her. She could tell the second she saw her she was a vampire though.
"Touché," Cristina admitted. She lifted a bottle of blood wine she had on the table. "Want something more fun than the water humans pass off as beer?"
"Yes, please," Arizona grabbed a red solo cup and walked over. She sat down while Cristina poured the wine for her.
For a moment, both focused on their drinks and not on each other.
"Torres had had a lot of crap happen to her, bad relationships, getting knocked up, being friends with Sloan," Cristina said. "Be careful not to add yourself to the list of crap that happened to her."
Arizona was finding more and more that Callie had a lot of people here who cared for her. She was grateful that she did, even if she kept having to prove herself. "I am trying really hard not to be added to that list."
"Good," Cristina said before downing her wine. "You have a twelve year old in peds who needs heart surgery, any chance I can get on that case?"
"Teddy and I are working that case, but I'm sure that we could use you as our resident," Arizona agreed. She knew Cristina was good, and she was willing to offer up a chance to teach.
"Cool," Cristina nodded. "It's nice to work with someone who can work as fast as I can."
"Humans can be a little slow," Arizona agreed.
"A little?" Cristina asked.
"Okay, a lot," Arizona laughed.
"At least Altman is a good teacher," Cristina said, her voice going a bit softer. "I deserve to learn from someone who is a good teacher."
"You do," Arizona said softly. "I knew Burke and Hahn from Hopkins and both had weaknesses there."
"I have to go," Cristina said as she poured whatever was left in the bottle into Arizona's cup. "I have a surgery with you and Altman to prepare for and the scent of this many sweaty humans is terrible even if I don't breathe."
"Goodnight," Arizona said.
"Yeah, sure," Cristina said as she walked out of the kitchen.
"I see you found Yang in one of her wonderful moods," Callie said when she walked into the kitchen after passing Cristina.
"Something like that," Arizona said as she tilted her head back when Callie came up behind her. "Having fun?"
"I am," Callie said as she reached down and stroked over Arizona's cheek. "Remembering I'm not twenty one anymore though."
"Want to go home?" Arizona asked.
"It's barely midnight," Callie sighed at not staying out like she once would have.
"And that means we can go home, have some time just for you and me, and then go to bed at a reasonable hour. You can sleep, and I can catch up on Top Chef once you do," Arizona smiled.
"Your offer is too tempting to turn down," Callie said as she stepped back so Arizona could get up.
"I am a master negotiator," Arizona smiled. She finished her blood wine before tossing the cup and taking Callie's head to head home.
/
"Robbins." Mark walked up to Arizona.
"Sloan." Arizona looked up from the chart in front of her. The surgery she and Karev had performed this morning had gone well and she was on a bit of a high.
"My butt lift got pushed back, can I grab Lexie for lunch?" Mark asked as he leaned against the nurse's station she was standing beside. "She's on your service today, right?"
"She is, yes," Arizona said. "I have a bowel repair. I need her to do a pre op in about an hour. Have her back to me by then."
"Thanks, Blondie," Mark grinned.
"Sure, Mark," Arizona said.
"Callie also made it clear you aren't going anywhere," Mark said. "Clear, sort of like the bite mark she's been sporting for a little while on her neck. That kind of clear."
Arizona slowly turned her head from the chart to look at Mark. "She asked me and I don't say no to her very well."
"Is that like vampire marriage? Because I have a best man speech half done, but I need more time," Mark joked through his discomfort with his best friend walking around sporting bite marks.
"No." Arizona shook her head. "Like a vampire going really steady?"
"Right." Mark nodded seriously. "She got hurt a couple times before you and her in that alley, Blondie. And after it, when she didn't know who? She didn't think very highly of herself. Just be careful with her, alright?"
Arizona looked at him with narrow eyes before softening a little. "I promise, Mark."
Mark patted her on the back and gave her one of his charming smiles. "Friends then?" He held his hand out. "I'm Callie's best friend and Sofia's godfather. You're Callie's girlfriend and Sofia's mom. It's easier if we're friends, right?"
"It is." Arizona shook his hand. "You're also down ten minutes on your lunch with Lexie. I'd go find her or that quickie you have planned before I need her back will have to wait."
"Thanks, Blondie," Mark said with a laugh before walking off.
When Arizona turned back to her chart, she heard someone walking toward her from the right. When she saw the chief of surgery, she straightened up a bit.
"Dr. Robbins, just who I was looking for," Richard said. "Can you spare a few minutes? There is something we need to talk about."
"Of course," Arizona smiled to try and put herself at ease.
"My office is this way," Richard said as they walked together.
Arizona was not one to get called to the chief's office. Which really felt like having to go to the principal's office. Which reminded her of the few times she did get in trouble over the years and then having to go to her father's study when he got home and get a full on lecture.
When Arizona entered the office, the head of HR, Nancy Conner, was sitting at the conference table with a folder in front of her.
"Take a seat Dr. Robbins." Richard gestured before sitting next to Nancy.
"What is this about?" Arizona asked. She took a seat directly across from the head of HR and the chief of surgery.
"Do you and Dr. Callie Torres know each other?" Nancy asked.
"Yes," Arizona answered truthfully. "Dr. Torres is the mother of my daughter and my girlfriend." Having to answer questions about Callie made her incredibly nervous.
"How long have you known Dr. Torres?" Nancy asked.
"I met her about two years ago," Arizona answered vaguely.
"Of those two years, how much of that time would you say you spent as a couple?" Nancy wrote something down and checked another page in the file.
"Approximately nine weeks." Arizona fidgeted with her hands in her lap.
"Are you on a hospital monitored feeding program, Dr. Robbins?" Nancy looked up from the files.
"No," Arizona said. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I do use the blood bank, but I haven't been on a monitored program since I came to Seattle. I was for a time in Maryland, shortly after I was turned. When I came here, my doctor filled out the paperwork stating I was in control of my hunger."
Nancy wrote something else down before looking back at Arizona, her head tilting. "And you feed exclusively from the blood bank?"
"No." Arizona answered without elaboration.
"Where else do you source your blood from?" Nancy questioned.
"Dr. Torres," Arizona swallowed.
"How long?" Richard asked before Nancy did.
"A few weeks. Dr. Torres asked me to start feeding from her. She had been taking the medication to up her blood production to make it safe for me to feed from her regularly," Arizona said without looking at Richard.
"Did you have an extended conversation with Dr. Torres about the benefits and drawbacks to you feeding from her regularly?" Nancy asked while sorting through some papers to pull out a typical list given to those thinking about it to show Arizona.
"Dr. Torres is a well respected surgeon who saw a doctor in order to get a prescription for the pills in the first place. We did talk, but no, I did not give her a fact sheet beforehand," Arizona said with slight irritation in her voice.
"Have you ever used your vampire charm on Dr. Torres in order to get her to submit to feeding?" Nancy asked directly.
"No." Arizona's jaw tightened after she answered.
"Have you ever used your vampire charm on anyone in order to get them to submit to feeding?" Nancy tilted her head as she asked.
"No." Arizona shook her head.
"Have you used your vampire charm on anyone for any reason?"
"Yes." Arizona said flatly.
"Yes?" Richard nearly swallowed his tongue.
"My daughter is a toddler who doesn't always like to go to sleep at night. I use a small amount to help her have good dreams. Which is legal, something Dr. Torres is aware of, and something as her parent, I have the authority to do," Arizona answered before clenching her jaw.
"Have you ever bitten Dr. Torres on hospital property?"
"Yes," Arizona said as she shifted in her seat under Richard's gaze. "Dr. Torres and I sometimes work well over twenty-four hour shifts. I have used my office to be able to feed. We lock the door and Dr. Torres makes sure to have something to eat beforehand and drinks water afterward."
Nancy pulled out a form and handed it over to Arizona. "Someone came into the ER a few days ago to be treated for a broken hand. They filed a formal complaint that the hospital allowed humans bitten by vampires to be doctors," she explained the reason for the questions.
"What?" If Arizona had a heartbeat it would have stopped.
"If Dr. Torres hadn't filed a form to inform HR of your status over a week ago, this would have been a much more tense conversation," Nancy explained as she handed Arizona a form to fill out of her own to be added to the file. "You will have a verbal warning noted for not filing this paperwork yourself sooner, but if you fill this out then I can close my investigation."
Arizona took the pen and filled out the basic questions that confirmed her and Callie's relationship and that all needed precautions were taken in Arizona's feedings. She handed it back after signing it.
"Robbins?" Richard said once Nancy was gone.
"Yes sir?" Arizona looked at him.
"As your boss, I want to say that I am disappointed that you didn't fill out the paperwork sooner. But as someone who can understand how complicated having a relationship with someone you work with, I understand taking a few weeks to sort it out," Richard said in a measured tone.
"Thank you, sir," Arizona said as she stood.
"But Robbins?" Richard leaned back in his chair.
"Sir?" Arizona turned back to look at him.
"The on-call rooms and offices aren't soundproof. Don't have too much fun during hospital time, understand?" Richard said with the corners of his lips twisting up.
Arizona swallowed again and somehow got paler. "Yes, sir," she said before quickly walking out.
The hallways were devoid of the people that Arizona wanted to see while she was worked up. She needed to vent to someone that wasn't Callie before talking to her girlfriend. Callie didn't need to see her be a ranting mess.
"Hey!" Arizona said when she saw Teddy walking toward her.
"Hey, I was looking for you," Teddy said when she drew closer.
"Webber pulled me into his office," Arizona said. They headed to the attendings lounge to grab some coffee. "Someone saw the bite mark on Calliope and filed a complaint about it."
"Seriously?" Teddy's eyebrows rose. "It's Seattle."
"I know," Arizona grumbled as she flopped on the couch inside the empty attendings' lounge. "Callie filed a form to state our relationship on paper, or it sounds like I could have been in real trouble."
"That's good, right? That she filed the form for the two of you?" Teddy asked. She sat down on the other side of the couch.
"It is," Arizona said as she tried not to fidget the way she always did when she was nervous. "Things have been going so well. Being a mom isn't something I ever thought I'd be, but I love it. Sofia is wonderful and we've really bonded. And dating Callie? It's amazing. I've never been in a relationship where I feel this settled."
"Why do I feel a but coming?" Teddy asked.
The pair had known each other for too long for Teddy not to know there wasn't something more to this. They met through Tim. The soldiers were friends from the Army and one Thanksgiving she didn't have anywhere to go, so he brought her to the Robbins' Thanksgiving. The two surgeons hit it off and became fast friends.
"That's the thing, there isn't a but," Arizona said. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail it was in before redoing it to give herself a minute to think. "She lets me feed off her. I have basically moved into her apartment, so I'm there to help with Sofia and just to spend time with her. She and I have this amazing chemistry. It's perfect."
"And that freaks you out," Teddy said knowingly.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Arizona crossed her arms to keep from gesturing with her hands. "Teddy, it's been weeks, and I am in so deep. Like so unbelievably deep. We talked about going slow and then we just didn't. We didn't go slow, and it has felt so good to just let things happen, but it scares the hell out of me."
Teddy reached over to pat Arizona's leg. "You've never been very good at being settled, Arizona. As long as I've known you. It makes you uneasy when you're between major life events."
"This feels like it should be a major event," Arizona said. "I have a daughter and I have a girlfriend. Why doesn't this feel like my whole world has been rocked?"
"It has been rocked. But maybe it's been rocked so a bunch of pieces just fell into place instead of fell out of place," Teddy suggested.
"My parents get here tomorrow," Arizona said after she paused for a moment to think over Teddy's words. "I'm bringing them to the hospital to see things. If you're free, will you have lunch? If you and the Colonel can talk about military ops or something, maybe I can keep him from yelling at me too much for all this."
"I'm off tomorrow, page me when you're here, and I'll come for lunch," Teddy agreed. "I can bring Major Altman out to run interference with Colonel Robbins."
"I'm hoping showing him how Callie and I are around each other will calm him down. I've gotten three texts from him since I told them about Sofia with advice that amounts to "wear a condom"," Arizona said. She made a face as she tried to get the mental image to go away.
"Well," Teddy laughed. "You are doing what amounts to that, right?"
"Yes," Arizona promised quickly. "Callie and I know what we're doing now."
"I'm sure you do," Teddy snorted. "Enjoying yourself even with a toddler?"
"Like you would not believe," Arizona grinned with her dimples popping out.
A second later, Alex poked his head in the lounge. He looked a bit sheepish as he stepped into the room.
"I got the labs back on the kid in 1412," Alex held up the folder. "It's good news, so I was hoping you'd let me come with you to tell the parents?"
"Duty calls," Arizona pushed herself off the couch. "Thanks for letting me talk that out."
"Anytime," Teddy smiled as she watched Arizona walk out.
/
Callie was standing in the hallway when Arizona came out of her last surgery of the day. Sofia was sleeping in her arms as she leaned against the wall.
"Hey," Arizona smiled as she walked over to her girlfriend and their sleeping daughter. "That took longer than I expected."
"I watched from the gallery for most of it, but your back was to me. I went to get her when you were closing," Callie said. They shared a quick kiss before Arizona bent to kiss Sofia's sleeping forehead.
"I just have to handle some post op notes and then we can get out of here," Arizona said but made no move to walk away.
"HR talked to you today?" Callie asked.
"Yeah," Arizona said. "I didn't even think about the paperwork. We're both attendings so we didn't need to file a relationship status form for that. I got a verbal slap on the wrist for not though. But I can live with that."
"I should have told you I was filing it," Callie said. She shifted Sofia a little so she had a hand free to reach for Arizona's. "I did it and then something came up, and I just forgot."
"Filing it was smart. It saved us from a much longer conversation with HR," Arizona said. "I've never done this, Calliope. I've dated at work before but nothing like this."
"What? You don't have kids with hot ortho attendings at other hospitals?" Callie asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.
"The others aren't ortho," Arizona teased before making a face. "I can't even joke. No, I don't have other children."
"That's really good to know," Callie said. "Do you … in the future do you want more?"
Arizona smiled as she nodded. "One, maybe two more? At the end of the day it's up to you. You're the one who will be pregnant. It impacts your career more with the time off and the changes to your body."
"It impacts you plenty," Callie laughed. "I'd like more than one. I don't have a great relationship with Aria, but I don't want Sofia to be an only child. Maybe next year we can talk about it?"
"I'd like that," Arizona agreed. It gave them time before making more changes, but it also didn't put too much time between Sofia and any potential siblings. "There is a loophole for us to be able to be legally married."
"What?" Callie asked in surprise.
"If a vampire takes a mate, the full process, the federal government has to recognize it. When they passed the law they never attached gender to it," Arizona explained as she reached out to stroke Sofia's head. "It doesn't impact many people, so they never amended it."
"That is very good to know," Callie said with a bright smile.
"One day," Arizona whispered so softly she could barely hear it. "I'd like to one day."
"One day." Callie squeezed her hand. "Go do your post-op stuff. Sofia and I will wait downstairs?"
"I'll be quick," Arizona said. She leaned in for one more kiss before heading down the hallway.
Callie headed down the hallway and through the double doors into the main hallway. She hit the button for the elevator before stepping on when the doors opened.
"Hey," Lexie smiled from the back corner.
"Hey, Lexie," Callie smiled.
"Mark is waiting downstairs. He'll be happy to see you and Sofia before we head out," Lexie smiled at the toddler who was starting to wake up in her mother's arms.
"I think he sees her more during the day than Arizona and I do," Callie chuckled.
"He wants kids," Lexie said with a slightly guilty look on her face. "And I do too. But not yet. Not until I finish my residency. I think sometimes he uses Sofia to fill that void until I'm ready. Which I know sounds terrible, because she's your baby. But he wants to be a dad so much."
"I know," Callie said before Lexie could go on. "I know he has. And when Arizona wasn't in the picture I honestly was thankful for it."
"But Arizona is in the picture, and he and I are more serious now." Lexie finished the thought.
"She is and you are," Callie nodded as the doors opened.
Before Lexie could say anything more, Mark appeared in front of them. He bent down to kiss Lexie before smiling at the now awake Sofia.
"How's little goose today?" Mark asked.
"Ready to go home and have her dinner," Callie said as she handed Sofia over to Mark to allow him a moment with his goddaughter. "Just waiting on Arizona."
"The two of you do make good looking kids," Mark said as he looked at the smiling face in his arms.
"That we do," Callie smiled.
"Still want to go to Joe's tonight?" Mark asked Lexie after handing Sofia back over to Callie.
"God, yes," Lexie laughed. "I was on run all day."
"We'll see you two later," Mark smiled before he and Lexie joined hands and headed out.
Callie didn't have to wait long before Arizona got off the elevator to join her family. She had showered and redressed in street clothes with her bag slung over her shoulder.
"Do you mind if I carry her?" Arizona asked.
"Not at all," Callie said before handing Sofia over.
As they left the hospital, Arizona couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw George O'Malley watching them and then walking away quickly when she looked directly at him.
"I had to work with O'Malley today on a case. I know he's a good doctor, but he seems scared of me and I can't figure out if it's the vampire thing or the female attending thing," Arizona said as they walked.
"I'd put money on the girlfriend of his ex-wife thing," Callie said with an annoyed look.
"You were married….to George?" Arizona stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk. "George O'Malley?"
"Did you not know?" Callie winced. She was used to the whole hospital knowing with how public their relationship had been.
"No!" Arizona cried out. "You were married? To George O'Malley? You were Callie O'Malley? How long? When? How? What?"
"It was a couple years ago. We went to Vegas because … Honestly, I don't know. We were dating and he had a thing for Stevens, another resident who ended up leaving. His dad died. I wanted to make it clear we were together, and he was trying to keep me. It only lasted a few months. He cheated on me with Stevens. I tried to forgive him, but in the end it just didn't work."
"George O'Malley got you to marry him and he cheated?" Arizona asked with a perplexed look on her face. "Does he have a traumatic brain injury or something?"
Callie couldn't help but laugh at that. "No. He and I shouldn't have been together, but I liked him and confused that for love."
"I'm sorry. I'm being an ass. I know I'm just trying to wrap my head around you and George. You're such a hot badass, and he's like a puppy who hasn't been housebroken yet," Arizona said with a shake of her head.
Callie leaned over to kiss Arizona. "I love you for that."
"Just for that?" Arizona asked with a slightly nervous smile. For all they had said to each other, for all that had happened, they still hadn't said those three words yet.
"I love you, Arizona. I'm not mistaking it for like. I'm not unsure. I'm not falling. I love you," Callie said. She put her hand on Arizona's cheek as their daughter squirmed slightly in Arizona's arms.
"I love you, Calliope," Arizona said. She leaned her head against Callie's hand while shifting Sofia to get her to stop squirming.
"Come on, let's go home and relax before your parents get in tomorrow," Callie said as she dropped her hand.
"Yes, let's," Arizona said before they started to walk again.