I've come upon some writer's block with this. Hang tight while I work through it, got some good ideas for coming chapters.

Chapter 53- Callie

The alarm is going off, why is the alarm going off, when I open my eyes, I see it's still dark out. "dammit Arizona" I grumble.

"what'd I do?" she mumbled

"why is the fucking alarm going off? It's still dark out"

"oh" she says moving and the annoying noise shuts off, thank god "sorry" she mutters and lets out a breath "I wanted to get an early start on the kennels"

"ok but the whole house doesn't need to be up for it" I roll over so my back is facing her, she lets out a sigh and I feel the bed move and her arm around me. "happy birthday beautiful" she says then kisses my cheek. Next thing I know I'm alone, letting out a sigh, I close my eyes to get some more sleep. Without any luck, my phone started pinging with texts messages. Groaning I roll over and reach for it. Addison, Teddy, to my surprise Meredith was the first to text, at just after midnight. I open her message first "happy birthday honey, I can't wait to see you in a few weeks, I talked to Cristina and we'll both be there, I have a surprise for you" I smile I hadn't seen Meredith and Cristina since college. I set the phone down, not replying to anyone and lay back on my pillow "how could I forget it was my birthday" I laugh at myself, I hear the door creak open, and the sound of footsteps, that weren't Arizona's come into the room. Closing my eyes, pretending to be asleep I feel the bed dip, and feel Sofia curl up next to me, and she whispers "happy birthday Callie" when I open my eyes I see her bright smile. "Zo told me it'd be ok if I did this" I nod and wrap my arms around her. "this is always ok" I say.

"good" she snuggles in closer. This felt right, like Sofia was meant to be ours. "I know it's early but when are you getting up?"

"soon" I say

"hmm" she hums and snuggles closer "my mom and I used to do this"

"I'm always up for snuggles"

"Zo said we'll leave around 10"

"that sounds like an Arizona thing to say" I mutter, I was starting to fall back to sleep

"she also said I should take a shower, even though I told her I took one last night"

"that's because we like to shower every day, shoveling dog shit makes you smelly" she giggled I'm assuming at the use of the word dog shit, "have you been into the kennel yet?"

"no, we went with officer Teddy yesterday, remember"

"hmm" I hum my reply and groan when I tried to roll over "yup, this old body ain't like it used to be"

"you're old" Sofia giggled again, I love the sound of her giggles

"thanks" I roll my eyes "how did you sleep"

"good" I could hear the smile in her voice "way better than I have in the past that bed is super comfy"

"it's old" I laugh and I didn't remember it being super comfy, the bed we're in right now is super comfy, it's the one thing I told Arizona I wanted from my house. After some arguing, she agreed, and now I think she is regretting arguing with me about it. I hear my phone ping again and reach out for it. Another happy birthday message, I groan and set it back on the table "well, I think I should get up"

"good, Auntie Aria, and Lucia are making breakfast"

"well then we should probably get down there" Sofia squeals and jumps out of bed, running out the room, I hear her go down the stairs before I am even out of the bed. Rolling my eyes, I make my way out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. Using it, I take a look in the mirror making sure I look halfway presentable. I could see a small patch of grey starting to come in. Groaning I make a mental note to pick up some hair dye today. I'm not looking like a gramma, I'm only 42. When I finally made it to the kitchen, everyone was sitting around the table, and when they saw me Alex was the first to start singing happy birthday. I couldn't help but be embarrassed, even though this was my family, I thanked them and sat down. My mom quickly placed a plate full of homemade waffles down in front of me, and kissed my cheek. "happy birthday"

"thank you" I smiled, and grabbed the fork, this was my all-time favorite breakfast, and my mom had the best recipe for it. Once everyone was done eating, Sofia placed a card in front of me, when I looked up she had a giant smile on her face. "it's not much, but since I only just met you yesterday."

"thank you" I smiled and reached for the envelope. When I opened it I saw a handwritten card. Clearly some printer paper folded in half, on the front in crayon, it said happy birthday Callie, with balloons, on the inside she had wrote a little note to me.

"Callie, I want to thank you and Zo for saving me, I promise to be on my best behavior and even shovel dog shit. Love Sofia" I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes as, I looked up and right into Sofia's eyes. Her smile covered her whole face, and I knew that Arizona and I had to do everything in our power to adopt her. My mom's gift was next, I reached for it finding a gift card. When I looked up at her she smiled "sorry it's not much, but I have spent so much on your wedding present, I thought you could wait until then" she says with a shrug.

"it's perfect mommy thank you" I smiled as yet another envelope was sat in front of me. I recognized Aria's handwriting "that's form both of us" Alex said, when I looked up at him, Aria kissed his cheek. They really were cute together, opening it I saw yet another gift card. "as mommy said your wedding gift is bigger" Aria clarifies, honestly I don't care, all I really care about is the fact that everyone is here celebrating with me. Daniel stepped up next, handing me a card. I opened it and had to hold the tears back the outside of the card said "to an amazing daughter in law on her birthday" when I open the card, there was yet another gift card, and a note scribbled in his handwriting "I know you aren't my daughter in law yet, but they didn't have a card for that. Happy birthday Callie, and I can't wait for you to officially be my daughter, love Daniel" I looked up meeting his eyes, that were smiling, he nodded and walked away.

"guess I'm next" Arizona says standing from the table, she pulls a box out of her pocket and sets it in front of me. I look up at her and she smiles, nodding towards the box for me to open it. When I do I'm surprised to find a white gold heart necklace, "I love it" I whisper

"I'll help you put it on" she says reaching for it, I pull back my hair and she clasps it around my neck. "it's beautiful" I say again.

"just like you" Arizona says quietly, and we shared a kiss, when she pulled back "happy birthday baby"

"thank you" I look up "thank all of you for everything" I say sitting back in my chair. There was no better way to wake up on your birthday.