A/N - This starts off with what I think is a pretty important conversation between Arizona and Mark and ends with a new step for Callie and Arizona. Enjoy!

/ / /

Arizona was laying on the floor with Sofia in front of her after a long day of work. She had been in Sofia's life for nearly a month and each day she was thankful for it. The toddler was playing with oversized blocks. Mostly watching as Arizona did some stacking, so she could knock them over again while laughing her head off.

Arizona perked up when she heard a knock at the door. She popped up and let her fangs drop as she made her way to the door.

"Hi there, Blondie," Mark said after she opened the door and he saw her fangs. "Lexie is pulling a double, so I came over to see my favorite toddler." He moved around Arizona to lay on the floor with Sofia. She lit up and made a high pitched sound when she saw Mark laying there.

"Mar-ck!" Sofia crawled toward him.

"How's my favorite girl?" Mark asked as he used one of her stuffed animals as a pillow. "Today your Uncle Mark treated a college kid who burned herself making fried chicken. Yes he did," He grinned at her.

Arizona closed her eyes as she counted to ten in her head. She opened her eyes again and moved to sit on the couch.

Sofia and Mark played together as Arizona sat there and stewed but she was trying to remind herself that he had been in Sofia's life since before she was born.

"How was your day, Blondie?" Mark asked as he rolled on his back and let Sofia climb all over him. "Any big plans tonight?"

"It was fine," Arizona said as she fought back an urge to let her fangs drop down again. There was just something about Mark that set her off. "Calliope and I are staying in with Sofia tonight."

"Sounds fun," Mark said. He tickled Sofia with a big grin on his face. "I just needed to see my favorite girl after my day."

"She seems to really like being around you," Arizona noted.

"Well, I have been there all her life," Mark said with his eyes on Arizona.

Arizona winced at the pointed comment. She crossed her arms over her chest.

Didn't he understand how guilty she felt?

Didn't he know that she spent every moment with Sofia that she had been able to since the moment she read the DNA results?

Didn't he know how much she already loved Sofia and how easily she was falling for Callie?

"You're not the first person who got Torres' hope up and then ditched her. I'm the one that makes sure she's alright. I'm the one who protects her, and Sofia when she can't do it herself," Mark said with a hint of sadness for his friend. "I have to protect them both."

Arizona lifted Sofia into her arms when the toddler turned and held her arms out to Arizona. "I'm not going to leave them," she said as she carefully rocked Sofia. "And I'm not going to bite either of them without Callie's express permission."

"So you admit you want to bite her?" Mark said as he got to his feet.

"Of course but that isn't the point. I am stepping up for them both," Arizona said.

"You wouldn't be the first person to step up with less than pure motives," Mark said as he crossed his arms.

"Mark," Arizona sighed. "Will you just tell me your issue with me?"

Mark crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't like being replaced and it's easier to be an ass than face the fact you're who Torres calls now if Sofia needs something instead of me," he said in a moment of total honesty.

"I'm her Mom, Mark," Arizona said as she shifted Sofia to her left hip. "But you are her godfather. You are important, and I can't take that away. We just need a truce, so we don't hate each other."

"Yeah," Mark signed. "I'm sorry for the tough guy act, okay? Can we try and be at least friendly, so when Torres invites me over for all the holidays you don't get pissed and I don't get bitten and turned?"

Arizona snorted at the image. "Oh, Mark," she chuckled. "I wouldn't turn you, I'd just drain you."

"Great," Mark said, making a face.

"Hey," Callie said as she walked through the now opened front door. "What's going on in here?"

Arizona and Mark locked eyes and both took a step back. Mark walked over and kissed Callie's cheek. "Nothing, Cal. I wanted to see Sof. Have a good night," he nodded at her before crossing the hallway to his own apartment.

"Are you going to lie to me about what just happened too?" Callie asked once Mark's and then her own front door was closed.

"Don't worry about it," Arizona said as she waved her off. "Just two people who care a lot trying to figure out how to work together."

Callie didn't take kindly to being waved off. "Why don't you try that answer again?"

"I was in here with Sofia and Mark dropped by," Arizona said after a few beats. "I made it clear I wasn't leaving you or Sofia, and he made it clear he wasn't leaving you or Sofia. Then you came home."

"Arizona…"

"I know it's not a big deal. I'm just protective," Arizona admitted. "I know he's not a threat to her. He's not. But he talks to her like he's her father; he cares for her like he's her father; he acts like he's her father. And he's not."

Callie walked close to Arizona with Sofia still in her arms. "H's my best friend and Sofia's godfather. He's protective too. Because for a long time, I didn't know who her other parent was. Give him a little time, please?"

"Of course," Arizona said. What else could she say?

"I am going to take a shower then we're going to eat pizza on the couch and watch whatever old movies we can find," Callie said. She leaned in for a kiss, smiling against Arizona's lips. "Sound good?"

"Sounds great." Arizona relaxed a bit at the sounds of a cozy evening.

After Callie ate dinner and they watched An Affair to Remember and then Singin' in the Rain, the pair gave Sofia her bath together. Arizona marveled at the sight of Callie and their daughter splashing together in the water. It was a beautiful sight that she committed to memory as much as she could. Arizona handled drying her off, putting a fresh diaper on her, and changing her into pajamas, while Callie cleaned the water off the bathroom floor and the rest of the bathroom.

"Let's take her to our room, so we can lay in bed while I feed her," Callie suggested once the bathroom was put right again.

Hand in hand, with Sofia carefully held to Arizona's chest, they crossed the apartment. Callie sat in the middle of the bed by the headboard. She pulled her top off before she took Sofia from Arizona.

"Hi, my girl," Callie said as she brought her daughter to her breast.

Arizona stood at the side of the bed and just watched for a moment. The sight of Callie feeding Sofia had been almost a nightly occurrence, but it hadn't gotten old yet. If anything, the sight had become more important with each passing day.

Wordlessly, Arizona changed into shorts and a tank top. Her clothes were thrown together with Callie's to be washed before she moved on the bed. She laid on her back with her head against Callie's thigh, so she could look up at her girls.

"Sometimes when you sleep, I get up and go watch her," Arizona admitted with her head turned toward Callie. "Just to watch her little chest rise and fall. To count the beats of her heart. I ask Timothy to watch over her from wherever he is. I understood the bond between a parent and a child is one that had to be felt to be truly understood, but it's so much more all encompassing than I knew."

"It is," Callie agreed. "Until I had Sofia, I don't think I really understood why my dad was so protective. Now, I'd do anything for her."

Arizona reached her hand up to stroke lightly over the back of Sofia's head. "The last time I loved someone so completely, it was Tim. My Irish twin. My best friend. My guardian."

"Tell me about him?" Callie asked. She adjusted Sofia in her arms so she could reach down to stroke Arizona's hair.

Arizona turned her head so she was looking straight up. Her eyes closed when she felt Callie playing with her hair. "He was a ball of energy. He liked to hike and camp and rollerblade and whatever else he could do to stay moving. He loved being outside." She paused for a moment to keep herself from breaking down. "He joined when he was eighteen. He was so proud of the uniform, of what it meant to wear it. He tried to get me to join, and I had to explain being out as a lesbian meant more to me than a uniform. He gave me this funny look, because he hadn't even thought about that. He hugged me so tight after. He was like that. He looked for the good and the bad stuff he didn't even think about. He was a good man."

Arizona turned her head back to Callie while opening her eyes. "He served for nine years. He died because there weren't enough doctors to treat everyone after an ambush," she whispered. "I stood in an airplane hanger and watched them unload his body. I watched my mother's heart break and my father's world stop for a minute. And I wept like a little kid with a scraped knee. All we got was a flag."

"Arizona," Callie whispered as she looked into her blue eyes. "He sounds wonderful. Just like his little sister. He sounds so much like you." She reached for Arizona's hand and tangled their fingers together when Arizona offered hers. "I wish I had the chance to meet him. I wish I had the chance to have him meet Sofia. I'm so sorry, honey."

"He would have loved you," Arizona said. She managed to crack a small smile at the thought of how Tim would be around Callie. "He would have given you a big bear hug and told you not to let me boss you around just because I had fangs. He would have bought out a store or two shopping for Sofia. He always loved babies. If we went to a family event and someone wanted someone to watch their kid, Tim always would. He would have been such an amazing dad."

Callie moved Sofia from one side to the other before reaching back for Arizona's hand. The cool skin was a comfort to her right now as they talked about heavy things. "You know you're an amazing mom, don't you?"

"I'm trying really hard to be," Arizona said.

"You are," Callie said. She let her thumb trace over the back of her hand. "The few mornings you've been out of here before she's woken up? Arizona, she looks for you. When I pick her up at daycare, and I tell her we're going home to momma or momma is coming over tonight, she gets excited. I can see it in her eyes that she knows what I mean."

"She wants the attention I give her," Arizona said.

"She wants you," Callie corrected.

Arizona moved from laying with her head on Callie's thigh to laying next to her on the bed. Her head level of Sofia's as she suckled. She stroked over the back of Sofia's head while resting her head against Callie's arm.

"I'm scared that if I get comfortable, if I let myself want all of this, something is going to happen, and I will have it all taken from me," Arizona admitted. "I went from having my work and some friends but not much else to having the work and the friends but also you and our daughter."

"You can get comfortable," Callie promised. "You can settle in. I'm not going anywhere and Sofia isn't either. She's strong and she's healthy, and you're the best protector I could ask for. Both for her and for me."

"I would protect you from anything I could," Arizona said. "I love her, Calliope. And I know I'm falling for you. Harder than I knew was possible."

"I'm falling for you too." Callie turned her head to kiss the top of Arizona's. "We've created a little family, haven't we?"

"We have," Arizona said.

When Sofia was well and truly asleep, Callie guided her out of her arms and into Arizona's. Arizona carried her across the apartment to her bed. Carefully she tucked her in with just enough of her vampire charm to give her happy dreams. She padded back across the apartment to Callie's room.

When Arizona crossed the threshold of the bedroom she was tossed a mostly empty bottle of pills.

"I've been on the blood supplements since the Monday after we confirmed Sofia was yours," Callie said from the middle of the bed. "Will you bite me?"

Arizona whimpered as she moved closer to the bed. Her fangs extended as she looked at Callie laying in the middle of the bed. A bed she had spent far more nights in than she hadn't since Callie's first offer to spend the night.

"You want me to bite you?" Arizona asked. Her voice was rough as she looked into Callie's eyes. She saw a similar look reflected back at her as she had that night in the alley. She could read the lust in Callie's eyes as clear as day, but she saw more than lust. Callie trusted her. Her eyes couldn't lie.

"I do." Callie rose up to her knees. She hadn't bothered to put on her shirt when Arizona left to go tuck Sofia in. Her eyes followed Arizona's gaze as it fluttered between her face and her chest. "I want you to get naked, get in this bed, and bite me."

"Calliope," Arizona said. Her hands came up to rest on Callie's hips as she fought with her own control. "Biting you now would mean something. It's bigger than sex. Bigger than dating. It's not permanent. It isn't a mating mark. But it means something if I bite you and I don't erase the marks after."

"So does the daughter you gave me," Callie said. She cupped Arizona's face in her hands. Her thumbs stroked over her cheeks as she watched Arizona's eyes darken in real time. "I can't explain why I am so sure. I can't tell you why things have moved like they have. I just know I don't want it to stop."

"There is an old tale of human women drawn to vampires who have impregnated them. Like a mark had been left on their souls. On ours." Arizona leaned in as Callie's hands slid down to her shoulders. She pressed soft kisses along Callie's jaw as she fought to find a reason not to bite Callie.

"Did you just tell me you made me your soulmate when you bit me the first time?" Callie laughed warmly at how the idea made her feel.

"I guess I did," Arizona said. She nuzzled Callie's neck for a long moment. Her teeth scraped against Callie's skin as she searched all through her mind for a reason not to sink her teeth into Callie's neck and drink her fill.

"Mi corazón, please," Callie whispered. Spanish when she turned her mind off wasn't uncommon for her. And Arizona nuzzling at her necks when her fangs were out was a great reason to shut her mind off.

Arizona pulled back slightly. "When I get back, be undressed," she ordered in the same tone she took in the OR.

Callie watched as Arizona checked the front door before she sprung into action. She undressed herself before turning the covers down and moved to the middle of the bed. When Arizona walked back in, naked as the day she was born, she let out a deep groan of appreciation.

Arizona moved toward Callie from the foot of the bed. She slid over her until they were pressed together with one of Callie's thighs between Arizona's and one of Arizona's between Callie's.

"Right or left?"

"What?"

"Which side of your neck am I going to bite?"

Callie shivered at the choice. Something about Arizona letting her pick felt intimate on another level than being naked in bed together.

"Left."

Arizona bent her head to kiss over the site that would soon bare her fang marks. "It will feel good. I will make sure it feels good."

"I remember how it feels, Arizona," Callie groaned at the way Arizona had her all but pinned to the bed. "I remember everything about the way it feels for you to feed from me."

Arizona pulled back to look down at Callie one more time. A soft kiss was exchanged. Simple and sweet and very different from what they knew was about to happen.

"Close your eyes for me and relax," Arizona whispered as she moved her mouth against Callie's pulse point. "I've got you."

Callie closed her eyes at the same time as she brought her arms around Arizona's waist. She waited to hold on to her as she felt Arizona pull life from her.

As Arizona breathed in to catch Callie's scent, she bit down on her neck in one quick motion. The taste of her blood coating over her tongue made Arizona bite harder. Her body pressed Callie against the bed as her thigh pressed up between Callie's own. If she hadn't been focused on the mouthful of blood she would have chuckled at the way Callie rocked against her.

A vampire's bite had the power to bring pleasure out.

Extreme pleasure if the vampire was so inclined.

And Arizona?

Oh, was she ever inclined.

Callie gripped her left wrist with her right hand as her hips worked against Arizona's thigh. She felt her body grip around nothing as the continuous orgasm that Arizona's bite brought on left her panting for air under her.

Arizona knew she had to keep enough to her senses to keep from draining Callie dry. No matter how many pills she took, until and unless they were mates she could still take too much from Callie. And she refused to harm her for her own pleasure.

Carefully, Arizona pulled her fangs out of Callie and traced each mark with the tip of her tongue. She sealed them, but the marks would be visible to anyone who looked. She nuzzled against Callie's neck as she gave her body a rest from the waves of pleasure she had sent through her.

"You broke me," Callie groaned.

"¿Hice?" Arizona asked if she really did in a poor Spanish accent.

"A little." Callie shook her head. "How much Spanish do you speak?"

"Just enough to have people think I do and then they start talking way too fast. I took two years as an undergrad, but that was more than a few years ago now," Arizona chuckled as she pressed her face to Callie's neck. She kissed over the bites.

"That was mind blowing," Callie said as she found Arizona's left hand to hold.

"What can I say?" Arizona smiled against Callie's neck. "I aim to please."

Callie trailed her hand up and down Arizona's back as she relaxed against the bed. She would be sore tomorrow but it would serve as a very happy reminder of tonight. "Will it feel like that every time?"

"I wanted to make it feel as awesome as possible tonight," Arizona explained. "I have control over the level of pleasure."

Callie closed her eyes as she felt Arizona's cool body on top of her. It wasn't as cool as when she moved over her originally, her own body heat warming Arizona. It was a comfort really, the cool skin against her overheated skin.

"I am not ready for it. Neither are you but will you tell me about the mating thing?" Callie asked.

"Calliope," Arizona said her name with a hitch in her voice. She wrapped herself around Callie and effortlessly flipped them so Callie was now on top. She needed the grounding point. "What do you want to know about it?"

"Everything," Callie said once she had adjusted to the show of supreme strength from Arizona.

Arizona brought a hand to rest on the back of her love's neck as Callie nuzzled her neck for a change. The other laid at the small of Callie's back.

"It's simple really. A bite, then a second one, a promise made, a promise repeated," Arizona said. She tilted her head to allow Callie to play out being the one nipping at a neck for a change. "But the implications are huge. Calliope you would stop aging. You would be stronger, faster, and you'd want me to feed off you every day. You'd be bound to me for the rest of my life. Ten years or three hundred years. It wouldn't matter. There is no way to reverse it. No going back."

Callie heard what Arizona was saying. She really did, but she didn't understand the fear in Arizona's voice as she talked about a way for two people to spend a lifetime together.

"Why does it scare you so much?"

"Because if I did it and the person changed their mind? It would kill me," Arizona said as she let her walls down as fully with Callie as she had in her life. "There are other ways of keeping someone alive longer that don't require forever."

Callie pulled back, using her forearms to balance on top of Arizona. "You are worth forever. You are worth saying goodbye to others. You, Arizona Robbins, are worth everything."

Arizona moved up as Callie moved down. They kissed deeply as Callie settled back against Arizona. A whimper came from deep in Arizona's chest as she rolled her hips against Callie.

There was magic in the air. A crackle of skin against skin and lips against lips as tongues slid together.

"Mine," Arizona growled low as she slid her hands over Callie's back. "You're mine."

"Yes, I am," Callie tugged Arizona on her to let the vampire prove it to the pair for a second time that night.