Notes: The Robbins are in town. Buckle up for a little bit of mayhem. And a little family tenderness.
/ /
Colonel Daniel Robbins, USMC was not unaccustomed to travel. His wife Barbara and he had been around the world during his time in the Marines. Since his retirement, they traveled extensively to places they never had a chance to before.
They had never been to Seattle though.
After deplaning, they headed to the baggage claim where Arizona said she would meet them. As they walked, Daniel thought about what he was about to come face to face with.
He had always been proud of Arizona. Even if her coming out as a teenager wasn't in the plan he had for her, she had always been the person he raised her to be. She was hard working; she gave back to the world; she had pride in her country.
And she got a woman pregnant because she was a vampire.
Daniel held firm to his wife's hand, one of the few public displays of affection the couple allowed themselves. He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea his little girl had been turned. Though at the cost of having to lay both his children to rest, he would accept the price. Even if it wasn't his to pay.
Daniel and Barbara made their way to the escalator. As they were transported down, he saw his daughter standing with her back to him as she laughed with a woman he could only assume was Callie Torres. The little girl in her arms was his grandchild. The idea of he thought had been buried with Timothy.
"She's beautiful," Barb said as she followed his eyes to the younger couple. "They both are."
Daniel grunted softly in agreement.
They stepped off the escalator and walked over to Arizona, Callie, and little Sofia. They knew from experience not to worry about getting their bags until things cleared out a bit.
"Mom, Dad," Arizona smiled nervously as she greeted her parents.
"Good to see you, Arizona," Barb said with a warm smile as she hugged her daughter tightly.
"Arizona," Daniel gave her a hug of his own. Shorter though and not as tight as his wife.
"Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Callie Torres. Callie these are my parents, Daniel and Barbara," Arizona said as she took care of introductions. "And this is Sofia," She said as she took her daughter from Callie.
"It's very nice to meet you both," Callie said. "Arizona has told me so much about you."
"Nice to meet you," Daniel said. He offered his hand for a handshake and was pleased with the firm one Callie gave.
"Oh, Arizona." Barb had tears in her eyes as she looked at the happy little girl in Arizona's arms. "She's perfect, honey."
Daniel looked at the toddler a moment before he felt his hesitation melt. "She is."
"Do you want to hold her?" Arizona offered.
"Let your mother hold her first. She was always better holding you when you were that age," Daniel said as he put a hand on his wife's back.
"Oh, hush, Dan. When you'd come home, I couldn't get you to put either of the kids down for hours," Barb said before taking Sofia in her arms.
"A father needs time with his children too," Daniel said. His voice was slightly sadder now as he thought of the missing part of their family.
Arizona reached for Callie's hand as she watched her parents interact with their daughter for the first time. She caught her father's tone, and her thoughts turned to Timothy against her will.
"We are going to spoil you, yes we are," Barb said to Sofia who let out a loud giggle.
"Not too much," Arizona smiled.
"We're her grandparents, Arizona," Daniel said. "It's part of the deal. We get all the enjoyable parts of having a baby around without the late nights or parenting."
Callie squeezed Arizona's hand. It cut a bit deep how quickly Arizona's parents had picked up the baton on being grandparents after weeks of knowing about Sofia when her own parents had let so much slip through their fingers. "I think Sofia can handle a little spoiling. She's their first grandchild after all."
Arizona let go of Callie's hand to wrap her arm around Callie's waist. She smiled when she felt Callie's arm wrap around her waist in kind. She needed the comfort of Callie's body heat and the position wasn't overly affectionate. "A little," she conceded.
After grabbing the bags, the four adults and toddler headed toward Callie's SUV. She refused to be the kind of person with a minivan. They loaded the bags before Arizona got Sofia in her carseat.
"We thought we'd take you to the hotel and after you're settled in we could go grab some dinner," Arizona said before climbing into the front middle to sit next to Sofia. She gave her father the front out of habit and respect.
"That will be fine," Daniel said.
"The hotel you booked us in looks very nice, Arizona but you didn't need to go to such trouble," Barb said from the seat next to Arizona.
"Oh, that was me," Callie admitted as she navigated them toward the hotel. "My father owns a chain of hotels and rental properties. It's one of his."
"Really?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," Callie nodded. She hated talking about her family's business but she had been the one to book the suite for them, not Arizona. "He keeps a room there in case he comes to Seattle. He and my mother are in Spain this month though. They go a few times a year."
"Where did you grow up, Callie?" Barb asked. "I'm sure Arizona mentioned it, but my memory isn't what it used to be."
"I was born and raised in Miami," Callie answered with a hint of pride in her hometown. "I went to the University of Miami for my undergrad. I came to Seattle to go to the University of Washington's medical school. Talk about a change in weather." She laughed at the memory of getting off the plane and nearly freezing.
"In August?" Arizona teased.
"Miami in August is like the 90's. Seattle it's closer to the 70's," Callie reminded her.
"I never cared for the heat much," Daniel shook his head. "Though in full uniform, even warm weather uniforms, the 80's can be too much."
"You'd live in Alaska, if I let you," Barb chuckled. She reached over the seat to squeeze his shoulder.
"Nothing wrong with Alaska. All the fishing I could do, hiking, camping," Daniel chuckled.
"Not a chance, Daniel Robbins," Barb rolled her eyes at her husband. "Your hunting camp in Virginia has all of that plus I can be in DC where there is shopping and more than twenty people when we go down there from Boston."
"Can't blame a man for trying," Daniel sighed.
Callie parked the SUV and they all got out. Sofia in her grandfather's arms as Arizona handled the bags without much effort. Superhuman strength did have uses other than pinning Callie to a wall now and then.
Callie checked them in and passed them keys. "The staff knows your guests of mine so they are going to be a little over the top, sorry about that," she said with a slight wince.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Daniel said with Sofia looking up at him. She reached her hand up and patted at his jaw for attention.
"Aren't they just the cutest things," Barb said with her hand over her heart.
"Hello, little one," Daniel said in a soft voice. Sofia looked up with him and offered a smile with a few baby teeth poking through her gums. "She looks very much like you Dr. Torres but that smile. That's a Robbins smile, dimples and all." He smiled down at her with the same dimples she and Arizona both had.
"Yeah," Callie said. "Yeah it is. I'm glad she got the dimples." She wrapped her arm around Arizona to bring her in close. "And please, call me Callie."
"Why don't you let us take Sofia up with us while we get settled," Barb suggested. "We can cuddle her up and the two of you can have a moment to yourselves."
"Are you sure?" Arizona asked.
"We managed to raise you just fine, Arizona. I think we can handle babysitting on our own granddaughter for fifteen minutes," Daniel said as he looked up from Sofia.
"We'll be at the bar," Arizona gestured behind them before pulling Callie in that direction. She didn't expect them to have blood wine, but she thought Callie might want something.
"Your dad melts around kids," Callie said when they sat at a table.
"He does," Arizona agreed. "At least around Sofia. Mom always said he was like that when Tim and I were little too. But I remember the strict dad."
Callie laced her fingers with Arizona's as they sat side by side at the bar. "He is right. Sofia did get your smile."
"She has your laugh though. Her whole body is into it when she laughs. It's my favorite sound that sweet baby laugh. And your laugh too. I love when I can make you laugh," Arizona said with a big smile as she thought about how she felt when she watched Callie and Sofia really laugh.
"I love you," Callie said because how could she not. "Even when you aren't making me melt."
"I make you melt?" Arizona asked.
"All the time," Callie nodded.
After Daniel and Barbara brought Sofia down, the group headed to a local cafe that Callie went to a lot during her resident days because of how relaxed it was. They had just about any type of food you could want. And even a few things Arizona liked.
Arizona and Callie sat on one side of the table with Sofia in Arizona's lap while Barbara sat across from her and Daniel across from Callie.
"How has work been lately, honey?" Barbara asked after their orders were taken.
"It's going really well," Arizona smiled the way she always did when talking about her job. "I've just about got the mess from the last chief of the department taken care of. I talked the board into hiring another attending. Oh, and there is a great resident that I think would make a wonderful peds fellow next year."
"I can't believe you managed to get Alex to go for peds. I was sure he was going to end up general or plastics," Callie said. She reached her hand out to rub between Arizona's shoulders.
"Alex just needed someone to invest in him," Arizona smiled at her girlfriend. "And I am an awesome teacher."
"You are," Callie agreed.
"Do the two of you work many cases together?" Daniel asked. "You're orthopedics?"
"I am," Callie nodded. "We haven't gotten to work as much as either of us would like but from time to time we do. I love working in the OR with Arizona. She's the best peds surgeon I've ever worked with."
"I love working with you too. You put the tiny humans back together, how cool is that?" Arizona said.
Barbara and Daniel exchanged a look at the way the younger couple was looking at each other. It reminded them both so much of how they looked at each other forty years ago.
"You both have to work on Monday, don't you?" Daniel asked. "If you are both comfortable with it, we'd love to have Sofia for the day."
"Are you sure?" Arizona asked.
"When have I ever not been sure before making an offer, Arizona?" Daniel asked with the same gruffness that he used when talking to Marines.
"We're both out at six that day," Callie reminded her. "We can let your parents have her for the day and then meet them for dinner and take her home."
"The two of you are living together then?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, um, not officially," Arizona admitted. She was so grateful for Callie's hand against her back, settling her down. "I still have my place, but I have been staying with Callie because it's easier with Sofia."
"Sounds like a waste of money then," Daniel said pointedly.
"We should talk about it," Callie said with a soothing smile. "About you moving in or us finding something a little bigger maybe."
"A mortgage can't be much more than rent," Daniel said before getting smacked on the leg from his wife.
"Daniel, Arizona is an adult. Why don't you let her and Callie figure this out? This isn't a covert mission to be planned," Barbara said. He rubbed her hand over where she just smacked him to soothe it.
"Sorry," Daniel grumbled.
"It's fine, Dad," Arizona waved it off. "Callie and I do have to talk about it. Things have flowed together without a lot of planning. But with this little one, we have plans to make." She tickled Sofia who giggled and pressed her face against Arizona's chest.
When the food came, the topics turned lighter and more about Daniel and Barbara's traveling than Callie and Arizona. While the others ate, Arizona kept Sofia occupied. She would feed from Callie when they got back to Callie's. At this point she was almost totally off bagged blood unless she and Callie were on totally opposite shifts.
After dinner, they decided to go for a walk through a park before heading back to the hotel.
"Tomorrow, Callie and I will pick you and Mom up at about eleven," Arizona said to her father. "Teddy is going to join us for lunch, and I'm sure we'll pick up one or two of our friends if we're eating at the hospital." She and Daniel were walking about ten feet behind Barbara and Callie as they chatted away.
"It will be good to see Major Altman again," Daniel agreed. His eyes were locked in front of them on Callie and Barbara. Sofia was in his wife's arms as she fought to keep from falling asleep.
"I love her, Dad," Arizona said after a moment of watching right along with her father. "She makes me feel alive again. I know I always said I didn't want kids or to settle down like this but with Callie it feels like I'm gaining something and not losing my freedom."
"Falling in love with someone is a gift that not everyone experiences," Daniel said with a notably softer voice than usual. "I have been gifted forty years with your mother, and I hope we have another twenty in us. At least twenty. But it's not easy, not easy at all."
"I know, Dad," Arizona whispered. "I don't think it is."
"You have to decide things when you're committed to someone," Daniel said firmly. "I am not going to lecture you on the fact you and she made a mistake, because it gave me a granddaughter and it gave you a daughter. But I will say that I expect Callie at our Christmas table for a very long time to come."
"Yes, sir," Arizona said. She always defaulted to a teenager who just wanted her father to say he was proud of her in moments like this.
"Your mother and I will come here for Christmas if you aren't able to come to Boston," Daniel made it clear the family not being together on Christmas wasn't an option.
"Callie and I will talk about it, and we'll work it out," Arizona nodded. "I want you and Mom to be in her life. I want her to grow up with all the love and support she can."
Daniel stopped walking for a moment and looked at his daughter. He shook his head before opening his arms to her to give her a hug. "I do not tell you enough how proud I am of you or how much I love you," He whispered to her once she was in his arms. "I grew up only knowing stories of my father and his sacrifice. Being a father myself, seeing you be a mother, it means so much to me, Arizona."
Arizona felt a welling of emotion in her chest at the sound of her father saying he was proud of her, that he loved her. She had known for years that growing up not having a father weighed on his mind but hearing him say it made her hug him a little tighter. "I love you so much, Dad. I just wanted to make you proud, growing up that's all I wanted. To be the person you raised me to be."
"You are," Daniel promised her as he kept on hugging her. "You and … you and Timothy both made me so proud. He would have loved this, Arizona."
"I know," Arizona breathed in her father's aftershave. "I miss him. So much."
"So do I," Daniel admitted as he pulled back. "Every day."
Callie looked over her shoulder to see Daniel and Arizona hugging. "Should we wait for them?" She asked Barbara beside her.
"No, dear, they need a moment to themselves. They'll catch up when they're ready," Barbara said after looking back at the pair.
Callie looked over at her daughter in Barbara's arms as they kept walking. "I'm sure this isn't what you wanted for Arizona," she said in a soft tone. How could an unplanned and unknown pregnancy be what any parent wanted for their child?
"Oh, honey," Barbara shook her head. "This is exactly what I wanted for Arizona. She's in a loving relationship with a good woman. She has a daughter that she's crazy about and a job that she loves and lets her serve her community. And she's happy. Isn't that what any mother wants for her child?"
"Not mine," Callie admitted. "When she found out about Sofia, she stopped talking to me. And my sexuality has never been something she's been willing to talk about."
"I hope you'll forgive me for speaking about someone I don't know, but your mother is a fool," Barbara said firmly. "I've known all sorts of people in my life. If this little bundle of joy and a woman holding your hand is enough to make her stop talking to you then she is a damn fool."
Callie started to cry as the dam she had pushed her emotions behind broke. Callie hugged Barbara back when she shifted Sofia to her shoulder and hugged Callie tightly. The type of hug that soothed and protected and gave all the love a person could want. A mother's hug.
"You and Arizona might not be married yet, Callie. But if you need a mother you call me and I'll be there for you just like I'd be there for either of my children," Barbara promised her. "Though, I tell you if Timothy manages to find a way to give me a call that boy would have a lot of explaining to do." She joked to lighten the mood a bit.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Callie said when they broke away from each other. She wiped her eyes to clear her tears away.
"Tim was so much like Daniel." Barbara held Sofia a little tighter to her. "Arizona is too. She was a daddy's girl growing up until she became a teenager. He had no idea how to handle a teenage girl in his house. Less when she came out and started dating. His planned trick of cleaning his service weapon didn't have the same effect when Arizona was the one picking them up."
"She's wonderful," Callie said as she looked at Sofia who was now just about asleep. "Arizona is wonderful. And Sofia is so much like her. I didn't know it until she came back in our lives but she sleeps just like her. She has her smile. She is going to be a momma's girl."
Daniel and Arizona walked up with more relaxed smiles on their faces than they had at the start of the walk. Father and daughter looked at their partners and both tilted their heads in the same way.
"Everything alright here?" Arizona asked when she and Callie locked eyes.
"It is," Callie promised.
"We should get you two back to the hotel and Sofia home to bed," Arizona said. She saw her parents having one of those wordless conversations they always did when she was growing up. Only a slight eyebrow raise was needed.
"Lead the way," Daniel gestured. "But let me carry Sofia back. You two are going to have her all night."
Barbara handed over the sleeping little girl before they headed back to Callie's SUV.
/
Arizona laid on top of Callie with her head on Callie's shoulder. She had finished feeding and now enjoying both the feeling of being full and the body heat that Callie provided. She closed her eyes when Callie started to comb her hand through her hair.
"I want us to live together," Callie whispered from under Arizona. "Here, a house, the moon. I don't care. I want to know I'm always coming home to you."
"I want a house," Arizona replied without opening her eyes. "I want a yard where Sofia can play. I want a basement where I can go when the sun is too much, or we want to watch a movie or whatever. I want a big bed where you and I can make love or just hide from the world. I want us to buy a house."
"So, we start looking for a house," Callie said with as much of a shrug as she could while being pinned by Arizona.
"We have to figure out money and who pays for what and if we want to keep things separate," Arizona said with a deep sigh.
"We will figure it out," Callie promised. "I have a money guy who handles my stuff. With the trust fund and my part of the family business and all that; it's easier than me trying to do it myself. We can set up a meeting and figure it out."
"Just how well off is your family?" Arizona pulled back and settled herself on her forearms.
"We're not the Hiltons, but not too far from it. I have assets in the millions in my name, plus the family money," Callie said. She wrapped her arms around Arizona's neck as she looked up at her.
"You aren't worried about combining finances with those kinds of resources?" Arizona asked before biting her lip.
"I'm not scared of you taking my money." Callie shook her head. "You make good money as the head of peds, so it's not like you don't have resources of your own on the line."
Arizona bent down to kiss Callie. She left her fangs out after she fed, which allowed Callie to run her tongue over one and then the other. Arizona's hips jerked forward the way they always did when Callie touched her fangs with her tongue. Callie chuckled against her lips the way she always did when she felt Arizona's reaction.
"I am happy, Calliope," Arizona said as she settled back down to rest her head against Callie's shoulder again. "I don't know if I've ever been this happy before. Maybe as a little kid before I understood the world. But as an adult? Never."
"I'm happy too," Callie said as she went back to stroking Arizona's hair. "I am so happy to have the little family we do together."
"I meant what I said yesterday. About getting married one day and having more kids," Arizona said. She trailed her hand over Callie's left arm as it lay extended on the bed.
"I meant it when I said I wanted it too," Callie assured her.
Arizona didn't say anything for a few long moments as they enjoyed the feeling of laying together in bed. Laying like this, Arizona felt Callie's heartbeat reverberated inside of her body. She could almost pretend it was her own heartbeat she felt. They laid like that for so long that Arizona thought Callie might be sleeping before feeling a kiss pressed to her shoulder let her know Callie wasn't asleep.
"I was in love once before you," Arizona whispered. She didn't want to go any longer without Callie knowing how she was turned. "I loved her and she loved me. But not enough. Not like us. When she turned me, it was that or letting me die. She loved me enough to save my life, but not enough to see me through learning myself again. She left me. Walked away and took another job in another hospital. Kissed me goodbye and then got on a plane and left."
"Oh, Arizona." Callie wrapped her arms tightly around Arizona's waist at the news. "Honey, I'm so sorry."
"I thought I was going to die. I stayed in bed for a month. My friend Nick, Tim and my best friend, flew in from Japan to sleep on my couch. He let me feed from his wrist every couple days, made me. It was my lowest point," Arizona said. She closed her eyes tightly as she had flashes of how bad things had been once.
"But you survived it," Callie reminded her. She pressed a soft kiss to Arizona's shoulder.
"I did. And one day, it was like the fog lifted. I felt a little better. Then the next day was better still. Then Teddy called me telling me she was back in the states and in Seattle. I found a job at Seattle Pres and then you know the rest of the story." Arizona slid her hand down to tangle her fingers with Callie's.
"You met someone in a club and gave them the time of their life against an alley wall and went on a date with them two years later?" Callie supplied.
"The time of their life? I haven't outdone myself since?" Arizona asked.
Callie laughed at Arizona's competitive nature. "You have. But we haven't done it in public like that since. Just on-call rooms and our bed."
"Our bed," Arizona smiled. She turned her head to press a kiss to Callie's skin.
"Ours." Callie held her a little tighter before letting out a big yawn. "As comfortable as this is though, slide off me so I can roll on my side and sleep. Not all of us can get by without it."
Arizona did as she asked and turned so Callie could hold her. She didn't need the sleep but hours laying in Callie's arms and dozing beat her old game of trolling the hospital for surgery or being alone in her apartment.
"Sleep well," Arizona whispered as she rested her hand against Callie's chest. "I love you."
"Love you," Callie replied as she cuddled in close.