Work Text:
Set a few years in the future.
"How exactly did you manage to get stuck in there?" Callie called up to the blushing blonde. She barely contained her laughter at the sight of Arizona through the plastic window.
The brunette tapped her foot impatiently, a perfectly manicured eyebrow raised and a playful smile on her lips, looking up at her wife, who was currently wedged into a section of the bright yellow play tunnel suspended from the ceiling at their local Chuck-E-Cheese's. It was Arizona's day off, and it was an administrative day at the kids' school, so the blonde was supposed to be watching the children while Callie reconstructed a linebacker's knee. However, when eleven-year-old Sofia used the blonde's phone to notify her other mother of a unique predicament Arizona found herself stuck in – quite literally – Callie came rushing over, still wearing her lab coat and scrubs.
Arizona's voice was garbled by the thick plastic tube, but still audible. "Tim and Gabe went running up here, and I was worried that they'd get lost, so I went up after them…" Came the blonde's sheepish reply.
Nearly three years ago, Arizona treated a nineteen-year-old college student who was pregnant with twins. The patient expressed that she didn't have the means to raise two children, let alone two children needing surgery before and after birth, but she had concerns about finding an adoptive family for two very sick newborns. These concerns were not unfounded, until the adoption agency came across a rather convenient looking couple, both surgeons, who already had a school-age daughter, looking to expand their family. The brown-haired, freckled, dimpled troublemakers were named Gabriel and Timothy Robbins-Torres, and stood at Callie's feet, having found their way out of the tunnels long ago.
Sofia, mimicking Callie's pose with her arms crossed over her chest, raised a matching eyebrow. "I offered to go up after them, but mommy insisted."
Callie couldn't help but laugh, knowing her wife's not-so-secret affinity for child-oriented activities such as this one.
The manager, on the other hand, was not laughing, as he expressed to Callie that Arizona was stubbornly refusing help from the staff and some kind patrons.
"In my defense, I haven't been up here since Sofia was that age," Arizona stated, voice still garbled.
That statement spoke volumes to Callie. Arizona hadn't been in the plastic tunnel system beloved by children and blonde pediatric surgeons alike, since she lost her leg. While Arizona had adapted brilliantly in the eight years since she lost her leg, and was held back by the prosthetic limb in very few situations, it was always disenheartening when she found new limitations.
Callie looked up at the red-faced woman, trying to gauge what reaction her tempestuous and fiercely independent wife would have and how best to remedy the situation.
After a moment, Callie asked Sofia to take her brothers to play other games, handing her some money for tokens. The surgeon then pulled the manager aside, explaining that Arizona was an amputee, and asked that he not draw any more attention to the situation than necessary. When many of the polite bystanders with offers of assistance did not go about their own business upon the manager's request, Callie stepped in.
"Stop gawking at my wife and get on with your lives!" She exclaimed, a little louder than necessary, feeling very protective of Arizona.
Callie then shuffled up ladder and crawled through the tunnel system, finding her wife with her prosthetic leg wedged awkwardly beneath her, and her hands covering her face. The brunette approached Arizona slowly, trying to gauge her emotions, certain she must have been crying.
However, when Arizona moved her hands, it became clear to Callie that she was, in fact, laughing. And quite hard, at that.
"Babe, are you okay?" Callie asked warily.
"I forgot," Arizona managed between peals of laughter.
Callie's brows furrowed in confusion before Arizona gestured to her prosthetic leg. This wasn't any ordinary prosthetic, however. This one was the finished product of the project she began with Derek Shepherd six years prior. Once Callie returned from New York, sans Penny, Amelia approached her, wanting to continue her late brother's research, and Callie surprised Arizona with their newest and best version as a wedding gift of sorts. They'd been nominated for a Harper Avery for this research quite recently.
"Your new fancy prosthetic works a little too well, Calliope," Arizona said with a laugh.
And that wasn't a particularly bad thing. She ended up winning the Harper Avery that year. The following year Arizona's joined it on the mantle.