Monday's Place was empty when Callie arrived, silent and still much like the outside streets.
The majority of Sweetwine would be in church by now, dressed in their Sunday finest. Children would fidget in their pews and pull at their itchy dresses and only keep quiet once bribed with the promise of watching Bugs Bunny after service. Parents would greet one another with faux-friendly smiles, whispering in each other's ears and behind each other's backs about the newest town scandal. Did you hear about Mary down the street? they would say, holding their hands over their chests as if they actually felt an ounce of pity in their hardened, judgmental hearts. Her husband left her, bless her.
The hypocrisy of it all had always made Callie's stomach feel sick. It was a game, church. One she had played and one she had lost.
She had long ago resigned herself to reading scriptures on her own and reciting her bedtime prayers in her head every night, trying her hardest to cling onto the little faith she had left. She avoided the crowd she had grown up around to the best of her ability, and the dirty looks and whispers she still sometimes got in the grocery store had eventually stopped stinging so much.
Instead of a book of hymns she studied the pages of her old, tattered recipe book. Every single pie Callie had ever imagined up had been sloppily handwritten in the pages, stained with vanilla extract and melted butter over the years. This, the kitchen, was her cathedral now. She anointed golden crusts with boysenberry and powdered sugar, the lattice topped rhubarb pies were stained glass windows. She was devout in her work, and each of her magnum opuses were sinfully decadent.
She imagined if one of her pies had been in the Garden of Eden, poor Eve wouldn't have stood a chance, and the whole punishment in painful childbearing thing would have almost been worth it.
She let her hand fall to her stomach fleetingly. She wasn't showing yet, not even close. The pamphlets Arizona had given her had ensured another two months or so of safety on that front.
It felt odd, Callie thought, having another living thing inside of her, soaking up all of her nutrition and energy and joy like a pastel cloth covered parasite. She couldn't bring herself to grow attached to it, to think of names or pick out nursery colors or write a letter in that stupid baby book Addison had gifted her, still sitting untouched on the cookbook shelf above her head.
She would protect it, though, and she would try her hardest to learn to love it. She was sure that affectionate feeling would come eventually, right?
She just wasn't quite there yet, still paralyzed and grieving the potential life she was sacrificing for it.
It. Addison scolded her daily for using that word. Maybe the first step of her grief work would be switching to a gentler, more polite them when referring to her unborn child.
Callie sifted through the kitchen of the diner, pulling out graham crackers and toasted coconut flakes to prepare for Arizona's arrival. Marshmallow Mermaid was, admittedly, probably one of her least favorite pies. It was childish and way, way too sweet, but it was Arizona's favorite, and she probably would have done just about anything for that girl. Even now.
She heard the front door jingle and smiled at the sugary sweet voice calling her name, "Callie?"
"Back here," the brunette called, and Arizona followed the sound of her voice to the kitchen. Callie felt her cheeks warm at the sight of her. Fresh faced, long blonde hair straightened and reaching her lower back. She had on a pale lavender dress, falling just above her knees, tiny white and yellow daisies decorating the soft fabric.
"Hi. Good morning," she chirped, arching upwards to kiss a tan cheek.
Callie's hands fell to her slim waist, locking her in place. "Morning," the brunette parroted, and Arizona melted into the embrace, small hands resting on strong arms. They stayed that way for a few moments, the blonde smiling up at Callie like she had put the stars in the sky.
"You look really pretty today," Arizona admitted, her cheeks blushing a bit. Smooth, Robbins. She felt like a teenager again in her presence and hated it.
Callie rolled her eyes and finally loosened her grip on the smaller woman. "I'm wearing the same old uniform I wear every day," she brushed the compliment off. She wasn't used to receiving positive attention, not anymore, and it made her a bit uncomfortable. She had become invisible over the years, a pitifully plain vessel that everyone took and took and took from, never bothering to feed any light back into.
Blonde eyebrows furrowed. "So?" Arizona challenged her, letting out a quiet laugh. "You're still the most beautiful person in this town." She said it plainly, as if it was the most simple, obvious thing in the world, and for a moment, Callie almost believed her. A smile ghosted over her lips and Arizona kissed it quickly, before it could disappear, and smiled brightly when she pulled back. "I'll tell you that daily if I need to. Now come on, feed me sugar for breakfast."
Callie laughed, shaking her head. "Not so fast. You gotta work for it first," she smirked at the pout that adorned Arizona's lips when she finally seemed to notice all of the ingredients laid out on the kitchen counter.
"You're making me bake it? I'm an awful cook."
"I'm teaching you," Callie corrected. "You asked me to teach you."
"I still burn dinosaur nuggets." Blue eyes narrowed, the perfectionist in her flaring up. "It's gonna be bad," she whined.
"You think anything I help make could be bad?" Callie teased her, gently pulling on her wrists. "Come here." She situated the blonde in front of her, wrapping her arms safely around her, and gently piloted her hands over the steps to the graham cracker crust she could make in her sleep. "See? It's easy." She rested her chin on Arizona's shoulder.
The blonde's breath hitched silently when she felt warm curves press against her back, and she stretched her neck to the side to look at her. She didn't miss the way brown eyes fell to her lips. "You really can't expect me to retain any of this when you're this close to me, Callie," she warned, voice quieter and raspier than normal.
Callie laughed, turning her face to meet Arizona in the middle. Their lips almost brushed. "You don't really have to retain it. I'll make it for you whenever you want," she pulled away before things could escalate, releasing her from her arms and standing next to her at the counter instead, a safe, respectable distance left between them. "I just wanna watch you suffer a little first. It's fun."
Arizona glared sharply, pushing her hair behind her shoulders. "I hate you."
Callie just smiled, handing her a fork and watching her—clumsily, Callie would admit—mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter and toasted coconut flakes together. Her nose scrunched a little the way it always used to when she hyper fixated on a task, and the brunette could tell she was trying so, so hard, so she tried her hardest to steel her face.
"Are you laughing at me, Calliope?"
"What gave it away?"
"You're shaking," Arizona huffed, looking down at the poorly made pie crust she had pressed into a tin. It was lopsided, and she attempted to crimp the edges to make it look nicer, but somehow she only made it worse. "It's ugly."
Callie's shoulders shook with laughter. "It's not ugly," Callie lied through her teeth, but her composure crumbled at the unamused frown on the small woman's face. "Okay, it's a little ugly, but it's still cute," she smiled encouragingly, popping the dough in the oven to bake.
Arizona leaned against the counter and rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. "You're a liar. And you're just tryin' to embarrass me."
"Come on, baking was the only thing I was ever better than you at. You had all those AP classes and the softball team. Let me still have this," she teased, gently bumping their hips.
"That's not true. You can sing and Lord knows I can't carry a tune," the blonde laughed, remembering how competitive they had been as children. "And you were so good at art. That was the only class I didn't get an A in during high school. I still think Miss Collins just had it out for me, though," she wrinkled her nose in distaste, clearly still holding a grudge.
"You're lucky you made it out of that class with a B, Arizona. I would've given you an F."
Her jaw fell open, and blue eyes narrowed into slits. "Hey! I'm not that bad." She couldn't even pretend to be mad, though, and her cheeks hurt a little from smiling.
"I think my eight-week-old fetus could paint better."
"Oh, come on. They're the size of a raspberry this week. Can't even hold a paintbrush."
"And still better than you somehow," Callie taunted. She paused, considering Arizona's words. "A raspberry, huh? That's… kind of cute."
"It's very cute," the blonde concurred. Even as she smiled, her eyes were a bit sad. "You're going to be a great mom."
Callie stiffened. She didn't want to have this conversation, not now, and not with Arizona. "Thank you for saying that." She untied and retied her apron around her waist, for no real reason other than wanting to keep her hands busy.
"I'm not just saying it," Arizona frowned. "It's the truth. You're so hard on yourself."
A humorless laugh fell out of Callie's mouth, filling the air and wrapping its way around Arizona's chest, squeezing it painfully. "Arizona, I appreciate it, but…" She shook her head. She could feel one of her long tirades on the tip of her tongue, and she let it leak out. "I'm almost 30, a waitress at a diner in this suffocating town. I take the bus every day. My husband's a mechanic and works three times a week, and that's on a good week." She blinked up at the ceiling. "There's not a whole lot I can give to this kid. I can't even afford a stupid crib."
"Callie," Arizona whispered, the broken look on the brunette's face nearly killing her. She broke the distance between them, gently holding her face in her hands to force her to maintain the eye contact she was clearly evading. "Hey," she said softly, blue eyes burning into brown, silently begging her to listen. "None of that means you won't be a good mom. Wanna know what I know you can give this baby?"
Callie rolled her eyes, blinking a few times to keep herself from crying, but Arizona pressed on.
"Love and patience and compassion and gentleness and a soft place to land. Children need that, Callie. Your child is going to love you so much you won't even know what to do with all of it."
Arizona thumbed over Callie's cheek, a breathy sigh of relief falling past her lips when Callie seemed to relax, soaking in at least a little bit of her words. "You've always been one of the best people I've ever met. You and that heart of yours. That's never changed," the blonde whispered, pressing their foreheads together briefly.
Callie offered a tired smile. "How have you always been so good at knowing what to say?"
"I'm good at everything, remember? Except baking," she laughed quietly and kissed the crest of Callie's jaw, enjoying the closeness.
"And art and music, don't forget." The ten-minute timer Callie had set for Arizona's pie crust sounded and the Latina regretfully pulled away to retrieve it, leaving it out on the counter to cool. "Ready for the hard part, my little culinary student?" She teased, laughing when Arizona's ocean colored eyes rolled back, grateful for the distraction from the heavy subject.
"That was the easy part? I'm screwed."
"That's the spirit." Callie slipped her apron off and wrapped it around the blonde's waist.
"Do I look hot?" She asked with a mischievous little grin.
"Incredibly. You know what a woman in a uniform does to me."
"Shut up," Arizona's cheeks flushed, and Callie laughed at her.
The Latina began to heat a saucepan on low, filled with creamy milk and an abundance of fluffy, sugary marshmallows that made Arizona's mouth water. "Think you can handle stirring this 'til it's smooth?"
"Maybe. I'll probably burn it," Arizona dimpled, taking the spoon out of Callie's hand and starting in on her assigned task.
Beside her, Callie effortlessly began to beat heavy whipping cream with a whisk until stiff peaks formed, folding in freshly grated unsweetened chocolate. She topped it off with the marshmallows Arizona had unevenly melted, biting back her jokes about her poor performance. "There, almost done. Now just spoon it into your crust and top it off with marshmallows and sprinkles." Callie's face scrunched.
"Don't make that face, Callie. It's good. You invented it," she huffed, following the brunette's directions carefully.
"Yeah, as a kid, for another kid way too obsessed with sugar," Callie laughed, watching Arizona work. "You and about five actual children at the diner are the only ones that request it."
"Leave us alone. Those kids have good taste," Arizona giggled, tossing a marshmallow at Callie and smirking at the way her jaw fell open.
Callie flicked a glob of whipped cream back at her assailant, smirking in triumph when half of it landed in blonde hair, the other half smeared across a soft cheek.
"Callie!"
"You started it," she laughed, brown eyes widening when she watched a small hand grasp a fistful of sprinkles. "No no no no no…" She held her hands up defensively, backing away from her.
"Get back here," she bossed, launching the sprinkles at her target and grinning at the squeal it produced.
"Hey! I have to clean those up," but Callie was laughing even as she said it, the blonde cornering her against a counter.
"Look at my hair. I have to clean me up," Arizona giggled, her stomach and cheeks hurting a bit from laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so happy, so free.
Callie swiped her hand across her cheek gently, wiping the whipped cream off of her face and staring down at her, suddenly solemn. Suddenly hyperaware of how hard it was to breathe. "There. All better."
Arizona bit her lip, shaking her head and leaning in closer to her former lover. Her heart hammered against her chest, the intensity of it almost hurting. "I really—" her voice caught in her throat, "—really can't seem to stay away from you, Callie."
"I know. Me too," her voice was shaky, and brown eyes closed, garnering the strength to keep from up and wrapping the blonde up in her arms and kissing her. "It's a bad idea. You have a girlfriend."
"You have a husband."
"And you're my doctor."
"And you have a baby on the way."
Callie gulped, fluttering her dark eyes open again to meet the deep indigo set watching her, waiting for her. The look in those eyes could have knocked the breath out of her.
They were both trying so hard to do the decent thing, to remain honorable and good, but it was as if they were magnetized to one another, helpless to the direction they were being pulled.
It felt like Callie had been asleep for so long, punished to a lifetime left in the dark night, and now the blonde was in front of her, bright and warm and beautiful like the morning. It was getting harder and harder to keep herself at a distance, her fragile strength beginning to shatter. "I'm so tired of doing the right thing all of the time," she admitted quietly. She tilted the blonde's jaw upward with her hand. "I want to be selfish for once."
Their bodies pressed together, and Arizona had to cage the moan threatening to fall out of her mouth. "We can keep it a secret," she breathed, long lashes fluttering.
Callie felt a sad smile ghost over her lips at Arizona's words. She had promised the same exact thing to her after their first kiss back in high school, but she pushed that thought away for now. She slipped her hands down to Arizona's slender hips, and with one gentle tug on a white string, the apron she was wearing was on the floor. The blonde shivered.
And then Callie pounced.
Her hands slid into messy hair and she shoved Arizona against the kitchen counter, a soft hiss falling from her mouth at the sting of the cold steel pressing into her lower back. It was sure to leave a bruise against her pale spine, but Arizona didn't care or particularly notice, because that mouth was on her own before she could even process it. Their teeth clashed in a less than chaste kiss and she whimpered, then Callie's tongue was filling her forcibly, scraping over the roof of her mouth.
She accepted it gladly, straining on her tiptoes to reach, not wanting to break away even for a second.
Manicured hands grasped at Callie, bunching up her light blue dress in her fists. She finally broke the kiss to gasp in a necessary breath, moving her lips down to the Latina's prominent collarbone instead, trailing a line of wet kisses and bites as she struggled to catch her breath. "God, I've been thinking about this since the examination room. Maybe even before that."
"Me too," Callie admitted, moaning at the feeling of those soft lips on her warm skin. The sound made Arizona shiver, and Callie gripped the woman's slim hips, hoisting her up onto the empty counter behind her with ease.
"Calliope!" Arizona pulled away suddenly, lips swollen and eyes narrowed in genuine anger. "You can't be lifting heavy things. Don't do that. Okay? Don't do that again. I don't want anything happening to you or to the—"
"God, shut up," Callie interrupted her, laughing against her mouth as she kissed her again, and the blonde didn't need to be told twice. Her knees fell open and Callie situated herself between them as they made out, running her hands up Arizona's exposed thighs when her dress bunched around her waist.
Arizona's hands wrapped around Callie, toying with the zipper on the back of her dress and whining impatiently when she couldn't unzip it from their current position, wanting it off. The brunette smirked at her hastiness. "Eager, are we?"
Arizona just groaned, digging her heels into her strong lower back. "A little," she breathed, hips twitching in arousal. "Look at you. Can you blame me?"
Callie tapped her arm lightly and she responded in kind, lifting her arms over her head and letting Callie peel her dress off of her, leaving her in only a black bra and a pair of tiny, skintight panties. The sight was almost enough to make Callie come, right then and there, just by looking at her. "Look at you," the Latina mewled, eyes glazed over with lust as she soaked in every square inch of the lithe body in front of her.
She was perfect, Callie decided. Not a single flaw on her. Toned muscles, creamy skin, the sparse freckles decorating her torso as if painted there by God. Those big blue fuck me eyes, perky breasts straining against her bra. Time had definitely been kind to her. Her mouth watered as she palmed at her breasts, meeting pink lips for another hot, wet kiss.
Arizona was almost shaking under her touch, chest heaving as she fought for air. Her nails clawed recklessly at Callie's scalp, keeping her close, and her hips nearly jolted off the table when Callie's lips wrapped around her left nipple, a shot of electricity straight to her core.
She gripped Callie's ass in her hands, pushing her uniform up a bit and greedily pulling her closer, until her thigh fell between her spread legs. The friction against her cloth-covered clit made her whimper and she rolled her hips forward, begging for more. It was almost embarrassing, really, how wet she was already, but she didn't care. A desperate plea fell from her swollen lips. "I need you, Calliope." In more ways than one.
Black eyes watched as Arizona practically humped herself against her tan leg, and Callie was fairly certain that it was the hottest thing she had ever been lucky enough to witness in her life. She stilled her hips with her hands and licked a lazy trail down Arizona's body, tongue gliding over the salty-sweet skin in the valley between her breasts, past her belly button and landing at her right hipbone, lowering herself to her knees in front of her. Callie kissed the tender skin there, ignoring the sharp sting of Arizona tugging at her hair.
"Please," the blonde openly, unabashedly begged, hips jerking off the table. Callie's breath, a familiar mix of spearmint and honey, tickled her sensitive thighs and she was pretty sure she was seconds away from crying if she wasn't touched soon.
Callie wasn't interested in teasing her, not now. She wanted to reconnect with her fully, to finally stitch them back together and become one again, even if only fleetingly. She pressed a kiss to her clit through her drenched panties before pulling them down long legs, mouth running dry. "You're perfect."
A throaty, breathless laugh escaped Arizona and she shook her head, watching the object of her affections through hooded eyes. "Nuh-uh," she felt her cheeks flush, and she tenderly brushed Callie's hair out of her eyes for her, letting their eyes lock.
"You are," she insisted, melting into the soft hand against her cheek. She wasn't used to being touched out of anything other than anger, and it felt nice. More than nice. She pressed little kisses to the inside of her thighs, then swiped her tongue gently through pink folds, the sweet taste making her feel dizzy.
"Fuck," Arizona groaned, squeezing her thighs together to keep Callie in place, her head falling back.
"You're soaked," Callie noted, voice muffled against Arizona's pussy, and the vibrations her words sent through the blonde's body was almost too much. She trembled as Callie lapped at her, thorough and mind-blowing as ever, easily refamiliarizing herself with the exact way Arizona liked to be fucked—where to touch her, when to push harder, how fast she needed it.
She almost screamed when two strong fingers slid inside of her and curled upwards. Sharp teeth nipped at her swollen clit and Arizona knew she was about to come, and fast.
"No," she whimpered out her protest, barely able to think, let alone speak. She was literally shaking. "Callie, no," she tugged softly at the Latina's free hand, currently holding her hips down. "I want you—" a groan tore through her, "—I want you up here, with me. Come here," she begged, and Callie had to tear herself away.
She wiped her mouth lazily with her wrist, but kept her other hand where it was, strong fingers plowing in and out of her expertly. She stood up to kiss the blonde, and Arizona cried out at the taste of herself still on her mouth.
She reached blindly under her dress and between her legs, pushing her panties to the side to bury two nimble fingers inside of her, fucking her hard and quick. She thumbed over her clit and smirked at the way the taller woman's knees nearly buckled. "I'm gonna—"
"I know," Callie groaned, feeling the way Arizona throbbed around her fingers, mere seconds away from reaching her threshold. "Come for me."
But Arizona shook her head stubbornly and curled her fingers, desperate to get Callie there, too, and at the same time. She wanted to come with her. It was getting harder and harder to keep herself from falling apart, and she pressed her palm against Callie's wet folds harder, deeper. The brunette's hips jerked, and she cursed sharply in Spanish. "Come with me," she begged.
And she did.
The tightly bound coil in her abdomen finally broke and tiny white stars appeared behind her eyes as she climaxed, tightening around Arizona's fingers almost painfully, drenching her hand, she was sure. She threw her head back, but a firm hand on her jaw pulled it back down, blue eyes staring deep into her soul as they both unraveled. The intensity of her gaze burned.
Arizona's lips were parted, but no sound escaped. She was certain there would have been screams if her body was strong enough to produce noise.
They were sweaty and panting as aftershocks rocked through both of them. The room was warm. Their skin was warm. Neither moved for a solid few minutes, entwined up in the other as their bodies recovered.
Arizona was the first to pull her hand away, and Callie groaned when she wrapped those pink lips around her fingers, cleaning Callie's wetness off of them. "That… wasn't what I meant by having sugar for breakfast," Arizona smirked, a low laugh rumbling in her chest. She pushed a sweaty piece of hair out of her face. "But it was much better."
Callie laughed quietly, still a little breathless, and moved her hands to hold her pretty face. She kissed her softly, and Arizona accepted it happily, gently, grateful the brunette hadn't freaked and ran after realizing what they had done.
Arizona was a little surprised she hadn't, either, if she was being honest with herself. They had just had sex—filthy, secret, mind-numbingly hot sex, in a diner on a Sunday morning—but she didn't feel dirty or even guilty. She knew it was wrong, she really knew that, but it was nearly impossible to bring herself to regret something like Callie.
Which meant she was in big, big trouble.
She sighed softly against her mouth and pulled her closer, resting her head against her chest as they embraced, nuzzling her nose against her affectionately. She pressed a sweet kiss to the side of her neck and Callie smiled in return, wrapping her arms around her and swaying a bit.
For a brief moment, it almost felt like Callie was hers. Almost. But then the gentle scratch of a small wedding ring against her skin brought her out of that daydream.
She swallowed nervously and fluttered her lashes up at her. "Are we…?" Are we really having an affair?
"Yeah," Callie replied softly, rubbing her lower back in soothing circles.
"Okay." Neither one had to say what they were thinking. The way that they were drawn to the other, the ferocity of how much they wanted, maybe even needed, each other was palpable. There was no need to verbalize it.
But they both had lives to tend to outside of the other. Arizona checked the time on her phone. It was half past 10, and she needed to go soon, so she reluctantly pulled away and hopped off of the counter, picking up her discarded clothes from the floor.
Callie's eyes fell to the wallpaper on Arizona's phone when she checked the time, and her heart sank. She didn't mean to look, it was just right there—a picture of Arizona and another woman, pretty with freckles and light brown hair, smiling on top of the space needle. So that was Lucy.
Sweet and smart Lucy, the Lucy that Arizona loved, that Arizona had been dating for four years.
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and smoothed out her uniform, retying her apron around her waist, masquerading her sad eyes with a smile as she watched Arizona dress. "You've still got the best ass in Georgia," she smirked.
Arizona laughed, pulling her lavender dress on to cover her slim body. "Careful, Callie, or you'll sign yourself up for round two talking like that."
"I wouldn't complain," she quipped. Half of her ponytail had fallen out of its ribbon during their tryst, framing her face messily. She retied it expertly in one easy motion without a mirror, as if she had done it a million times before.
Arizona smiled warmly, still in a sleepy haze from her climax, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Callie once they were both fully dressed again. "Will you… will you call me tonight? On your walk to the bus?"
"I can do that," Callie smiled, kissing the blonde's forehead gently before pulling away. "You didn't eat your pie."
"It's just about the ugliest pie I've ever seen, Callie," Arizona giggled, popping a marshmallow into her mouth. "You gonna feed it to the customers?"
"No, I'm baking something else. I don't want to make anyone sick."
Arizona's nose wrinkled. "You're so mean. I'd start another food fight, but I really gotta go," she frowned a little bit, not wanting to leave so soon. "Have a good day, okay? I'll talk to you tonight. Don't forget."
Callie squeezed her hips. "I promise," and then she let go of her, and Arizona was out the door, glancing over her shoulder with one last wistful smile before leaving her in silence.
She went to work quickly, cleaning up the mess they had left before any of her coworkers arrived to open up at noon. The church crowd always cultivated their busiest day of the week, and she prayed that today's sermon had been about the godliness of generosity so she could stash away a few extra tips for the pie contest.
She went through the motions of preparing a Dutch raspberry pie for the day without actively thinking about it, muscle memory guiding her through it. Sugar, butter, flour. Brown sugar and red berries that stained her fingers and cream cheese. Roll the dough, crimp the edges. Easy as pie.
She held a raspberry in the palm of her hand, studying it for only a moment. Her free hand fell to her abdomen to cradle it. That was the size of her baby, Arizona had told her.
Her baby.
And she smiled, because for the first time, the thought didn't scare her quite as much.