Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

My eyes open slowly due to the incredibly annoying buzz of my alarm. I lie still, soaking up the comfort of being in my warm bed cuddled next to my warm wife. I know, though, it’s just going to last for another two seconds or so because, just like every morning, I brace myself for what’s coming next. Just like clockwork, a pale, skinny arm reaches over me and slaps the hell out of the offending machine.

“Ugh,” I hear a grumble come from behind. Arizona runs her hand down my arm and locks our fingers together before snuggling into my back. “Five, already?”

“Uh huh,” I say, enjoying the way her hand has traveled from my hand to my tummy making small circles.

“We could probably stay in bed another ten minutes if we shower together, you know.”

“I love it when we’re thinking the same thing at the same time.”

“Aww,” she kisses my cheek. “Me, too.”

I roll over to burrow further into her, my left hand reaching up to clutch at the collar of her Hopkins t-shirt, “I love you.”

“Love you more,” she whispers as takes my hand and rubs it between both of hers. Something she does quite often these days. Not that I need her to anymore. It took months of recovery, but I’ve finally regained all the strength and movement from before. That didn’t stop her from doing this little massage, though. It’s turned into a comforting habit for both of us. “Feeling good today?”

“Yeah,” I answer. Another lingering habit of months of recovery is constantly being asked how you’re doing and how you’re feeling. There were days I wanted to scream at her for it, but now, I just consider it another sweet, loving gesture.

I trace my free hand over the diminishing scar on her forehead. It’s almost impossible to see now, and only from this distance can you still make out the line. “You?”

“I’m good if you’re good,” she winks.

“We’re both good then,” I lean in to kiss her lightly, sucking that beautiful bottom lip into my mouth for just a second. “Oh, look at that, even better.”

She smiles easily, “Shower?”

“Lead the way,” I nod toward the bathroom and wait for her to crawl out of bed. That’s mostly because it’s fun to watch her panty clad ass skip away.

***

Much to my dismay, Arizona reminds me in the shower that I can’t get too handsy this morning. Apparently, we just didn’t have the time. I try the ‘We should make time’ argument, but she’s heard that one before. And ‘c’mon, baby, just a couple minutes’ turns into ‘shit, we’re so late’ pretty fast. So after making quick work of the shower, I get dressed and throw my hair back. I absolutely attack a day-old muffin, drink a glass of orange juice in two swigs and switch into mommy mode to get Sofia ready for her day.

I creep into her nursery, so I can watch her sleep for a few moments before lifting her out of her crib. Of course, she barely notices. She’s still so tiny. We still have scares due to the complications of a very premature birth. There were surgeries that had been done, and we know surgeries that are still looming, but she's here. Needless to say, it has been a difficult year, but everyday isn’t a struggle for her to survive anymore. One thing is for sure though, she is our absolutely perfect little girl.

“Hey there, Sofia,” I say quietly and she lays her head on my shoulder. “Time to wake up.”

She grumbles a little. She doesn’t like waking up anymore than her mommies, but her chocolate eyes eventually open up and look back.

“Well, good morning,” I whisper. She gives me a sleepy smile in return.

I go about our normal routine: diaper changing, picking out a gorgeous baby ensemble, and combing down her thick black locks before handing her off to her mommy while I finish getting ready. That’s how our morning usually goes. We each have our special AM Sofia time. After mine, Arizona gets the not so enviable task of feedings while they have their very special Zo&So morning chat. I’m only privy to these chats about half the time, and the topics vary widely. Everything from how Arizona prefers old school illustration above Pixar to how lifting DOMA would ease the national debt, is on the table.

I prop myself against the doorframe watching the scene. Arizona is talking quietly while Sofia gazes at her intently, her eyes dropping only when she picks up more squishy banana. Then they lock right back on her Mommy. I thank God for the millionth time that our baby is such a little fighter, that my wife has stuck by me through everything that‘s been tossed at us, and that I’m still here to see our family become our family.

***

Sofia usually hangs out with her Dad when Arizona and I both go in early, so our first stop of the day isn’t too far away. Actually, at least for the time being, it’s just a couple steps across the hall. I’ve brought up the subject of moving a couple times now, but Arizona is surprisingly content to stay where we are. She says it‘s close to work, close to Mark, and we still have plenty of room. I contend the argument has plenty of holes. We’re both grown women, but we fight over closet space like five year kids fight over toys.

After just a couple of knocks, Mark opens the door. There’s already a big smile on his face. “It’s all my favorite ladies,” he greets us.

Arizona kisses Sofia before handing her over, “Morning Mark.”

He acknowledges my wife, “Robbins.” I have to hand it to those two. Sometimes, it’s still noticeably difficult to accept each other’s permanence in their lives. But they do, and they never make light of it anywhere near the baby.

I hand Sofia’s diaper bag over to the man, “Here ya go.”

“Thanks Cal,” he says as he pulls the strap over his shoulder before kissing all over our daughter’s face, “Sofia, oh my goodness, you’re so pretty today.”

“Da,” she replies, slapping at his scruffy chin.

I smile at the two of them. I can’t help it. They are a sight to behold together. Not anymore than Arizona and Sofia, but not any less either. The kid really does love all of her parents, equally. We all know and respect that.

“How was her morning?” he asks.

“Delightful,” Arizona answers and drops down to tickle Sofia‘s tummy. “We had some breakfast and talked about courses of treatment for a couple patients, didn’t we?”

“Wow,” Mark says wide eyed at the little one again, “So smart already.”

“Okie dokie, Sofe,” I stroke my finger down her little face. “Mommies are off to work, okay?”

She offers an indiscernible sound that I’m sure is extremely articulate to anybody who speaks her baby language and nobody will convince me otherwise.

“Okay,” I moan a little, playing with her little Vans covered foot. This is the least fun part of my day. “Bye Bye.”

Mark holds her out so both Arizona and I can kiss a cheek. “Say ‘love you mommies,’” Mark says in his best tiny girl voice and waves her little arm at us.

We both wave back as we walk backwards down the hall until Mark closes the door.

As we board the elevator, I look over to my wife to see her laughing. “What?”

“Mark,” she chuckles even harder. “If anybody else could see Morning Daddy Mark, they’d laugh their ass off, too.”

“I know, right?” I laugh along. “What a woman.”

“I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again,” Arizona shrugs as she presses the button for the ground floor. “He’s a better woman than me.”

***

One of the many perks of working the same shift is getting to stroll over to the Starbucks on the corner and grab a cup of coffee on the way to work. It’s not a total rarity, but we like to take full advantage when it occurs. We walk hand in hand into the coffee shop when I see Lindsay behind the counter.

“Oh, look, it’s your girlfriend,” I nudge my wife.

She looks confused for a second, but upon seeing the girl taking orders, she rolls her eyes. “Yes, Calliope. The coffee chick is my girlfriend.”

“You’re admitting it finally?” I wiggle my eyebrows. “Gonna put an end to all the will-they-won’t-they, huh?”

“Yes,” she deadpans. “When you’re working and Sofia’s with Mark, I come to Starbucks and we grind beans together. It’s totally hot…you know, the grinding.”

“I’m sure it is, Babe,” I put my hands on her hips and guide her in front of me in line. I rest my head on her shoulder and breathe into her ear, “With all that hot grinding, you should be able to score us free drinks.”

“Did you ever score us free drinks while you were having your year long flirt fest with the coffee cart girl?” she tosses at me as she reaches back to hook her thumbs in my front pockets.

I think for a second, mainly because I’m sad I never thought to try it, “No.”

“Well, all these coffee girls are the same then.”

When we get to the front of the line, Lindsay has long since noticed we were there and automatically starts writing Arizona’s name on her cup.

“The usual, Arizona?” she asks as she bats her eyelashes.

“Yeah,” Arizona nods. I roll my eyes when she breaks out the super magic smile. “Same for the wife.”

“Sure,” the coffee girl looks at me expectantly.

“Callie.”

She scribbles on my cup, before immediately directing her attention back to Arizona. “Have a good one, Dr. Robbins.”

***

“She gave you a stethoscope smiley face, Dr. Robbins.”

“And she also drew something for you,” she says as she opens the front entrance door at the hospital.

I squint and angle the cup sideways, “Uh, yeah, I think it’s a death star.”

“No, it’s not, Callie,” she chides. I hold it out in front of her for examination before she reconsiders, “Hm, maybe it is.”

“Plus, she wrote ‘Kelly’, she knows my name isn’t Kelly,” I go on. “I’m in there just as much as you are. You get Arizona, cute stethoscope smiley face and I get Death to Kelly?”

“Are you jealous of my oh-so-intense relationship with a barista?”

I scoff, “I do not get jealous, woman.”

We make it to the elevator just in time to catch a ride up with the Shepherds. I would have never believed it, but now I look forward to small talk with Meredith and Derek. It’s got to be some weird, married couple with kids thing. It might also be because everybody else runs in the other direction when we start swapping kid stories. Nevertheless, mornings on the elevators have changed dramatically.

It only takes point two seconds for my super cute wife to whip out her phone to show Meredith all her latest and cutest Sofia pictures.

“Oh, I took this one this morning,” she says leaning over Derek. “Look at that smile. That’s totally Callie’s smile.”

Meredith looks over to me as if to judge whether it's true or not. So, of course, I had to smile to prove it. She seems to agree.

“Oh!” Arizona bounces on her toes and changes the picture with a flick of her thumb, “See that face? I make that face!”

“She’s really beautiful,” Derek nods, already arming himself with his own phone. “Want to see Zola?

“Abso-fuckin-lutely!” Arizona says with glee. “Aww,” she giddily fawns over pictures of the Shepherd kid. She takes it and hands it to me, “She’s a cutie!”

“Last night,” Derek beams, all the while his hair staying perfectly coifed. “She danced it out with Meredith.” Derek thumbs over to the next selection. “There’s a video.”

“Even for a baby, she’s got way more rhythm than me,” Grey offers as the elevator doors slide open.

***

“You’re practically the flying nun,” Lexie teases April as the three of us look over the panels on the board. I don’t know how in the world I got lucky enough to have both of them on one of my cases today. But, seriously, being flanked by these two was a torture second only to water boarding.

“I’m not the flying nun,” Dr. Kepner defends. “I just have very high standards. And…I think it should mean something.”

“High standards?” LittleGrey questions. “You almost slept with Karev.”

“So what? You did sleep with Karev.”

“Who hasn’t?” Lexie squeaks. “Oh yeah, you.”

“Will you two shut up,” I finally had enough. “I’m actually trying to work here.”

I had already put together a plan for how I was going to repair the injury. But the fact that it was a young child’s legs mangled by a car accident had slowed what would normally be a speedy process. I was doing better. A lot better. I had only been back a short time, but I was absolutely physically 100% ready to be here. I still had to take the time to calm myself, though. The whole experience of my own car accident was still a fresh enough wound that I had to push the very human emotions out and let the badass Ortho god kick in.

“Sorry, Dr. Torres,” April apologized.

The two of them were well and truly chastised for about three minutes and forty-six seconds.

“Seriously, April, at this point you just need to do it,” Lexie mumbles. “With anybody.”

“Just because you’re doing everybody, doesn’t mean I should do just anybody,” Kepner retorts with a huff.

“Okay that’s enough,” I spin around to face them. “Dr. Grey, she’s right. Pick one. Sloan. Avery. Hell, pick anybody. But, just pick one. It’s getting tedious. And I’m really, really, really tired of hearing about it. From you. From Mark. From Kepner.” The smile on April’s lips was short lived when I turn my attention to her. “And you, while I find your dedication to abstinence commendable, my God Girl, just get on with it.”

“Does everybody in this hospital know I’m pathetic and virginal?”

“Yes,” Lexie answers before I can. “Just like everybody knows I’m caught in a love triangle.”

I take another look at the x-rays, steadying myself for the procedure. I check off what I’m going to do mentally, visualizing every step.

“You’re really lucky, you know,” April says. “Really lucky.”

I thought she was talking to Dr. Grey for a second about her love triangle, but when there was no response, I look over my shoulder. “Me?”

“Yeah.”

“I know,” I acknowledge. “I didn’t know that I’d ever be back.”

“Oh, yeah, that too, but I meant you and Dr. Robbins,“ she clarifies. “You two seem really happy.”

“Yeah,” I smile like a lovesick fool at the mention of my wife. “We are.”

“It’s kind of amazing,” Lexie wonders aloud, her eyes never leaving the scans. “You know, when it all works out.”

I glance in her direction, but look away. There’s always a tiny fraction of guilt there. I know I really shouldn’t feel bad, technically, but I still do. Probably more because Arizona and I came out of that mess intact. Even better than ever in some ways. We got married, we were back in our happy little pink love bubble with our little tiny human who was getting stronger and stronger everyday. And well, Lexie and Mark…didn’t. Things got so complicated for them. And then with them and Avery.

Kepner must have picked up on the swelling tension in the room because she blurts what seems to be the first thing to come to mind, “Dr. Robbins is really attractive. I’ve always thought so.”

Now, I know this about my wife. This is not news to me, but I’m sure the swivel of my head and the evil eye that I shot her probably made her pee her pants. “Huh?” I question, the foreboding evident.

“Y--your wife,” April stutters. “She’s an attractive wom-- person. You know...and she’s also obviously...married...to you, in fact.”

“She’s hot,” Lexie agrees nonchalantly.

“I’m aware of that, Dr. Grey.” I pin her with my patented Torres brow arch.

“Seriously, though,” she keeps on despite the scowl I’m aiming at her full tilt. “All that silky blonde hair.”

“And the eyes, don‘t forget about the bright blue eyes,” Kepner adds before ducking her head. “But, also, as you know...married...to you.”

“She’s a keeper, Dr. Torres,” Lexie offers with a wink.

“Okay,” I say. “No more discussing the smoking hotness that is my wife.”

“I’m straight, by the way,” April suddenly feels the need to explain. “I mean, the virginity isn’t due to sexual confusion or anything.”

“No?” I peek over to her.

“No,” she confirms but then pauses in thought. “At least I don’t think so.”

“Okay.”

“What do you think?”

“Oh, no,” I shake my head furiously. “No, no. Don’t ask me stuff like that.”

She looks at Lexie for a moment as if to ask her the same question then has second thoughts, “Never mind.”

Lexie crinkles her nose in amusement, “You sure?”

“Straight.” It sounds more like she’s trying to convince herself. “Not that my straightness negates the hotness of your wife. Err-- attractiveness of your…Dr. Robbins. Your wife, who’s married-”

“Yeah, yeah, Kepner.” I roll my eyes for the sixty seventh time in the past couple of hours. “She’s married to me. It’s been established. Repeatedly.”

I reach up with both my hands to massage away the pounding headache that’s creeping up because of this conversation and the twenty other conversations that have made me want to kick both Grey and Kepner in the shins already.

“Is it my voice?” April winces, “I’ve been working on a British accent if it will help.”

“Nah, I doubt it.”

“Doubt what?” An all too familiar voice hits my ears before I even register the doors swinging open to allow both Arizona and Alex to enter.

Now, I am all about being professional at work. And for the most part, Arizona and I are super professionals. Scratch that, Dr. Robbins tries her damndest to be super professional, which means I kind of have to be, but there's always a split second when I see her that I just think, 'Damn!' Sometimes that means my response time lags for a millisecond.

“Hello Dr. Robbins,” Kepner greets her sounding like Colin Firth with a head cold. “Top o’ da morning to ya.”

Arizona looks startled and shifts uncomfortably away. “Kepner, you sound sick.”

April frowns, “I floated into Irish there.”

“Huh?” My wife’s face looks to me for answers.

“Kepner’s using an accent.”

"And she thinks you're hot," Lexie shoots her a thumbs up. April, in turn, looks like she wants to crawl under a table. Lexie sometimes has trouble with the super professionalism. So does Alex, who’s by now laughing like a fool.

"Oh," Arizona grins at the compliment, "Thanks, Dr. Kepner."

"Thanks Dr. Kepner, " I mock quietly to myself. The disapproving look on Arizona’s face tells me I may have missed the mark.

"For someone who is married...," April repeats. "To Dr. Torres."

I simply hold my hand in her face, "Stop talking."

“So, I was paged for a consult?” Arizona changes the subject.

"Yeah,” I then point to Little Grey. “Go.”

I focus back on the job at hand while Lexie gives Dr. Robbins a rundown of the patient and injury. They are discussing some options when I hear Alex say to April under his breath, "I totally agree about Robbins.”

“Shut up,” she hisses.

“Nice rack, too,” he says just a fraction louder.

"Watch it," I warn him.

"What?" he croaks. "Nothing I haven't told her before."

"Excuse me?" When he shrinks back, I turn to Ms. Flirty Hot Rack herself, “When? Why? How? Were bricks involved? ‘Cause if there was ever a reason for a brick-throwing, that’s definitely it."

"You said it first, he was just agreeing," she shrugs it off. “Long time ago.”

I lunge at him just enough to make him uncomfortable, “Next time I break your legs.”

“It was just an observation, Torres,” he reasons.

“Just an observation, my ass,” I eye him suspiciously. “You‘re gonna observe me breaking your legs.”

“Okay,” Arizona sighs. “Everybody out.”

We watched as the residents all turn tail and escape. “So what do you think?”

“I should have let you throw bricks at him.”

2“No,” she points to the films. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s time we get this kid to an OR so I can make sure he walks again.”

“Let’s do it.”

“You in?”

“Absolutely.”

***

My morning had been great. The surgery was successful so far. I had spent a few hours in the OR with my favorite lady doing what we do best. Well, the thing we do best when in the confines of Seattle Grace. Well…the thing we do best when we’re not doing the thing we do best. I hadn’t seen her in a while, though. And I was hoping we could catch up for a lunch date. I had decided to head up to Peds when I heard my name being barked.

“Cal!” Mark yells as he jogs to catch up, “Who is the blonde with Blondie?”

“Arizona, Mark. Her name is Arizona. She’s my wife. Your daughter’s mother. Four syllables. Say it with me. Air-a-zone-a.”

“Sorry, I meant who is the blonde with Air-a-zone-a?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug. “Probably a patient’s mother.”

“Nah, not this one,” Mark smirks. “She was all ‘oh Arizona, I haven’t seen you in years’ blah, blah, blah.”

“Oh, Hm.”

The elevator dings and the doors slide open to reveal Karev. He looks nervous for a second, “Uh, you didn’t come down here to throw bricks at me did you?”

“Yes,” I shoot back. “And I brought Sloan with me. He pitched in high school.”

“No, I didn’t,” Mark denies until he sees the look I give him. “I mean, yeah. I did. Threw ninety five.”

“It was an observation,” Karev stresses. “Besides he’s the one that stares at ‘em.”

“Stares at what?” Sloan asks dumbly.

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t anymore,” I assure Alex. “I caught him once and I punched him in the little Sloans.”

“Oh,” realization dawns on Mark and he involuntarily winces. “Yeah, you don’t wanna get caught doing that.”

“See,” I keep shooting daggers at Alex.

“Whatever.”

“Hey, Karev.” Mark asks, “Who’s the blonde with Blondie?”

“Ex-girlfriend or some crap,” he answers in his usual tone. “They know each other from Baltimore.”

“Whoa!” I was caught off guard. “Ex-girlfriend? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, old med school fling,” Alex nods. “In town on some business trip, came in looking for Robbins.”

“And you know this how?”

“I asked,” he says, like it was the most reasonable answer in the world. And, well, it kind of is. “She was hot.”

“Hot?”

Karev scratches at his head, thinks a second before answering. “Yeah. I mean, she’s not Robbins hot-”

I instinctively do the lunge as he steps back defensively.

“Or Torres hot,” he finishes quickly. “But sure.”

I do a quick check with Mark and he also silently agrees that the blonde with my Blondie is indeed a hot blonde.

Alex looks relieved when his pager screeches suddenly, “Gotta go.”

After watching him walk away, I look to Mark, “Why is an ex-girlfriend looking for my wife?”

“Well, besides the nice rack, she’s not exactly ugly,” he says before covering himself to anticipate the punch.

***

“So, she had a good morning then?” I ask Sloan as I’m picking at my salad. Arizona texted me with a ‘No go on lunch,’ so Mark and I agreed to sharing a meal. It wasn’t a bad deal, it gave us time to discuss our joint child-rearing so that he didn’t feel the need to camp out in my apartment at night. When our lives had settled back down after the accident, I had just wanted to enjoy my wife and daughter. He had a hard time with it, especially considering the ongoing back and forth with Lexie. One night in particular, he wallowed on my couch for three hours waxing poetic about the magic of his and Little Grey’s relationship and the tragedy that had befallen them. I finally understood why Arizona kept threatening to stick a fork in her eye and kicked him out. We haven’t looked back since.

“She did. She must have played pretty hard this morning,” he bites in his apple. “Because she was napping pretty soundly when I checked in on her half an hour ago.”

“Yeah, that’s a good thing,” I stab at a cherry tomato with my fork. “She woke up a couple more times than usual last night.”

“Oh,” he laughs. “That’s why Blondie wasn’t so spunky this morning.”

“Air-a-zone-a was plenty spunky this morning,” I correct him. “She just doesn’t waste her spunk on you.”

“I‘m hurt by that,” he swallows another bit of apple. “So how was your surgery this morning?”

“Fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep, Mark. It was fine.”

“Good.”

I spot my wife as soon as she walks into the cafeteria. She also notices me and makes a bee line over to where I’m sitting with Mark, plopping down in the extra chair.

“Sloan,” she addresses him curtly, then leans to place a kiss sweetly on my cheek with a melodic, “Calliope.”

“Hey,” I reach over to catch her hand and tangle our fingers together. “Where have you been?”

“Pit,” she answers and points to my salad. “Can I have a bite of that?”

I slide my plate over, “Sure.”

“Well,” Mark polishes off his apple. “I’ve got some patients to check on.”

Neither one of us really acknowledges him. We do it mainly to piss him off. It works every time, “Good to know, I’ll be missed,” he pouts.

“Yeah, see ya,” I shoo him away.

“Bye now,” Arizona voices between bites without looking.

“So…”

“Yeah, Babe,” she responds as she’s rooting around for a crouton.

“Who’s the blonde?”

“Huh?”

“The blonde?” I couldn’t keep the twinge of jealousy out of my voice. “I keep hearing all about this blonde you were with earlier.”

“Katie?” she asks. “She’s an old friend from med school.”

“Friend or girlfriend?”

She hesitates, “Really friendly friend.”

“So a friend you’ve had sex with?”

“Callie,” she admonishes. Ironically, she always does that when I’m in trouble or she’s ‘had about enough of me.’ The ‘Callie.’ I hate it. She knows it.

“I’m just asking.”

“A couple times, in med school. Fifteen years ago.”

“Hm, and you weren’t going to tell me she was here?”

“When did I have the chance?”

“Did you know she was coming?”

“Um, no. I didn’t know she was in town until a couple hours ago. She wants to have dinner tonight.”

“Oh, so you’re going out with her?”

“Dinner,” she points her fork at me. “I’m going to dinner with her. I was going to ask if you wanted to go with us since it’s Dad’s night and all.”

“Oh.” Yeah, now I feel like a tool. “Crap, no I can’t. I pushed back a couple procedures after that kid came in this morning.”

“Oh, okay,” she said as she took another bite of salad. She peered at me a couple seconds before asking, “That’s okay, right? That I’m having dinner with an old friend without you?”

“Old sex friend.”

“Callie.” See, there it is again.

“Yeah, sure,” I’m just now realizing that not having anything to eat in front of me was totally making this ‘I don’t care and I’m not jealous’ thing hard to pull off. “It’s cool with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure, Arizona,” I wave it off. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”

“Would you like to meet her?”

“Yeah, I would,” I say a bit too quickly and immediately try to backtrack. “I mean, sure. If you want me to meet your friend, then sure I will.”

“Okay, good,” she smiles a smile that is of the super magic variety and I melt a little. “I told her to meet me later in the lobby so she could meet my amazing wife.”

“So you told her you were married?”

“Of course, I told her I was married. I’m ridiculously proud of being married. I tell the stock boys at the grocery store, I’m married. I tell little old ladies crossing the street, I’m married.”

“It was one middle-aged lady and that was only because she was hitting on me,” I remind her.

“Still counts.”

“I was just asking.”

“I did, Calliope,” she steals the drink I have in front of me and slurps. “It’s not like I’m going to run off with her or something.”

“I know that,” I say a bit too loudly as Karev slides into the seat Mark vacated.

“Am I interrupting anything?” he asks knowing full well that he is and even if we said yes, he wasn’t really going to leave.

“Did you tell her about our daughter?” I continue.

Arizona finishes chewing before answering, “I showed her pictures.”

“I enjoyed the picture of Sofia sticking her finger in Mark’s nose,” Alex states.

“Is she married?” I question, ignoring Karev completely.

“Callie,” she sighs. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I don‘t really care.”

“Is she gay?”

“She used to be,” Arizona smirks, which makes me tense up a bit. “But, a lot of the girls I knew back then gave their toasters back upon graduation.”

“So, she might be a lesbian and she looked you up in Seattle after fifteen years?”

“Wow, Torres.” Karev threw at me as he was chomping on a sandwich, “Jealous much?”

“Shut it, Karev,” I yell at him. “And why the hell are you telling Alex about your friend before you tell me?”

“He asked who the blonde was.”

“So.” I knew the argument was weak, but the situation was creeping under my skin a little.

"He's my work husband," the blonde counters. "I'm allowed to tell my work spouse. Your rules, Calliope. Goes both ways."

Dammit. Point to the always insanely rational blonde.

“But this is not work spouse territory, Arizona.”

“Are you taking me to task about personal vs. professional boundaries of work spouses? I know you’re not. Because, if so? Wow!”

“No,” I shake my head.

Alex chuckles, so I promptly pick a crouton off what’s now Arizona’s plate and throw it at him.

“Next time it’s bricks,” I threaten him before addressing my wife. “I’m not, I swear.”

Arizona and Karev had formed this crazy ass kicking Peds team. It was a beautiful thing to watch actually. They had even grown to be fairly good friends despite the fact that Alex could be the biggest asshole in the world and my wife was perkier than Skipper on uppers. Arizona was the stability he had never had, a person to look up to. And I think she almost saw a bit of the little brother she lost in him. Whatever it was, it worked for them. It worked well. So I tried not to mess with their dynamic as much as possible, as difficult as it is.

“It’s just dinner,” she says, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together again. “If it really bothers you, though, I’ll cancel.”

“No. You should go.”

***

“Torres.”

Hearing my name from Bailey always made me stop in my tracks. I’m not sure why. It’s just instinct. The same instinct every doctor, nurse, and intern around Seattle Grace Mercy West has. If Bailey calls you, you stop and listen.

“Bailey, whatcha need?”

“Consult 433.”

“Sure,” I concede. “I have some time.”

“I’m on my way now, come on.”

As I step into the elevator, I consider shoving the topic on the tip of my tongue down. I tried, because I knew what would happen. But, damn, I just can’t help myself. I cut my eyes over to Miranda, trying to judge her mood. She’s hard to read, but we’re friends. Really. It should be safe. “An old girlfriend of Arizona’s is in town,” I venture.

“Hm.” That could go either way, couldn’t it?

“And she’s going to dinner with her.”

No response.

“Tonight.”

Still nothing.

“And it’s not like I care.”

“This sounds like personal business, Torres,” Bailey warns me.

I should stop, but I physically can‘t. The words just pour out, “I really don’t care. It’s not a big deal.”

“Quit talking to me.”

“Come on, Bailey.”

“Nope, deal with your own business.”

“This is the first ex-girlfriend I’ve ever seen, Bailey. I mean, she barely mentions women before me. She’s told me about them, but nothing in-depth really. And then today, all of a sudden, this woman just appears,” I take a breath. “And what is it about today? It seems like everybody is perving on my wife, today. Or am I just hypersensitive about it today?”

“Callie Torres!” Miranda exclaims before hitting the stop button in the elevator. Danger Will Robinson.

“What?”

“Do you trust your wife?”

“Of course.”

“I watched her watch you recover from a near death experience. I stood within three feet of you while you exchanged vows, I went to your daughter’s christening,” Dr. Bailey’s voice rises with each point. “And, I’ve been front and center for way too many giggly, girly OMGs trapped in this same damn elevator. So, do you trust your wife?”

“Yes,” I said with confidence.

“Then stop talking to me,” she says rather harshly. She visibly softens after a second, though, and what she says next is barely audible. “I heard there were cute Sofia pictures floating around this morning.”

I smile at her. “You know Arizona. Always shoving her phone in someone’s face.”

“Well, she’s more than welcome to shove her cute baby pictures in my face later today.”

“I’ll let her know you would welcome that.”

“Thank you.”

***

It had been quite a day to say the least. To say I was under prepared for someone from Arizona’s past to show up suddenly was a gross understatement. But, what could I do? I can’t be mad at her. Geez, she deals with my past everyday. Mark is in our orbit constantly, George’s ghost still roams the halls, and the fling with Hahn was the talk of the hospital for months. Then there’s the sexcapade with Alex. I mean, Karev is basically her protégé. Yet again, I’m reminded why sleeping with people I work with is a terrible, terrible mistake. Unless, you plan to marry them. Eh. Unless you plan to marry them for longer than a few weeks.

“You look deep in thought,” Teddy says from the couch in the doctor’s lounge. She looked up from her magazine at me while taking a sip from her coffee cup.

The voice took me by surprise and I may have even jumped a little. She chuckles and I think this isn’t exactly the worst person to run into. Teddy was Arizona‘s BFF in Seattle. I had even grown closer to her in the past few months. “Hey, I didn’t even see you there.”

“Yeah, I figured I better speak up before you went into some soliloquy or something,” Teddy replies.

“Hey Teddy.” I start off, wondering if I should jump right in or beat around the bush.

“I don’t know anything about her,” she says while taking another drink.

Okay. That question is answered.

“Arizona’s never said a word about her,” she continues. “Well, not until today, a little while ago when she mentioned that you seemed weird about this Katie lady showing up.”

“Nothing before that, though?”

“Nope, makes me think she’s probably not that important,” she flips a page. “And you probably shouldn’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worried, Teddy.”

“I know,” she chances a smile. “And I’m saying you shouldn’t.”

“I mean,” I plunk myself down next to her and wait until she turns her full attention to me. “Why would I be worried? We’re married. We have a child. She loves us. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, she loves us.”

“Yep.”

“So why does my brain keep screaming, ‘who is this hussy and how will she meet her demise?’”

Dr. Altman laughs, “Is this the first ex-girlfriend you’ve met?”

“I haven’t even met her yet, but yeah,” I flex my left hand before I ran it through my hair. “I know they’re out there. I’ve heard of them. I’ve seen a couple of pictures. But, this one is here. And all I can think is ‘bitch better not get too comfortable.’”

“Wow, Callie, that’s some mean jealous streak you‘ve got.”

“I can’t help it.”

“You think maybe this is your karmic payback?”

“The irrational wave of jealousy at the sudden appearance of someone who is not even important enough to be a footnote in Arizona’s life?” I ponder my own question, “Yes. Payback’s a bitch.”

“Well,” Teddy closes the magazine and tosses it back on the table. “As if you don’t already know this, Arizona is completely crazy about you. Head over he2els, hopelessly in love kinda stuff. When you’re not around, you’re all she talks about. When she tells me about Sofia, she lights up like a freakin’ Christmas tree. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I do know.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“You two were amazing before everything fell apart. In fact, you had the love I aspired to be in one day,” she grips my shoulder to show sh2e means business. “But, after your accident, and after Sofe was born, something else clicked. When she asked you to marry her, yeah, it may have been bad timing. The reasoning may have been questionable. When you and that little girl pulled through and fought your way back, though, she was determined to embrace life and your love with everything she has. She hasn‘t backed down from that. She‘s still fiercely in love with you, and I don’t think that‘s ever going to change.”

***

My talk with Teddy automatically took me back to a year ago. Sometimes I think the fact that I was miraculously able to vividly recall those last few moments before our crash was both a blessing and a curse. I still remember the way her face softened when she asked me to marry her. I remember the sweet tone of her voice. I remember the promise she was making. The promise of forever, everything I wanted from her. For us.

But, unfortunately, I could also remember not being sure what to say. I remember caring more about Mark and Lexie and Jackson freakin’ Avery at that moment than making sure Sofia and I were safe. I remember accusing her of being jealous of Mark. The fact that I was right doesn’t help matters. I was only right because I had let the situation deteriorate to that point. Arizona was jealous of Mark. It just sounds wrong. How in the hell did I let that happen?

With that thought still rolling around in my head, I see the on-call room door open.

“There you are,” my wife stands at the door with a hand on her hip. “Are you hiding from me or just hiding out in general?”

“I would never hide from you,” I assure her.

“You say that now.”

I take a deep breath, “Are you happy? Really happy?”

“What?” Arizona looks at me like I‘d slapped her. “Yes, I’m happy, Calliope. Of course, I’m happy. Why in the world would you think otherwise?”

“Because…” I slump in my chair. “I know you love me. I know you love Sofia. I know we scared you and you thought maybe we wouldn’t make it. I know you jumped into this marriage and parenthood headfirst, but…”

“But, what?”

“You said yourself that it wasn’t your dream-”

“Calliope-”

“No, no. I know we’re past that. Way, way, past all that,” I look down and shuffle my feet a little. As far as we had come, and it had been a long way, I was still a little ashamed at how I had acted all those months before the accident. “But, we never talked about all that. I mean, we never really, really talked about it.”

She looks at me with the same blank stare I always get when I talk about that time in our lives. The look that says she doesn’t want to go back there for any reason. She gives me a quick, almost undetectable shake of her head. “I’m happy. I’m in love and married. I have a beautiful daughter. We’re all here and going strong. I’ve never been happier. We don’t need to do this.”

“Yeah, we are. We’re here and we’re happy. But, what if I hadn’t gone through a windshield, Arizona? Would you be content with just Sofia and I being alive?”

“It wasn’t my plan and it wasn’t my dream,” she says with conviction and maybe a tad bit of anger. “But it is exactly what I needed. I just didn’t know it until it was my reality.”

“But-”

“No, buts. My family is perfect just as it is. The issues we had are in the past, let’s leave them there.”

“Who’s got issues?” Mark asks as he walked through the on-call room door. Always with the perfect timing, that big dummy.

Arizona chokes out a laugh, “Even with the additions that I couldn’t have imagined I would ever come to terms with.”

“Huh?” Mark asks.

“Mark,” I say with exasperation. “We’re having a conversation here.”

“Uh,” he looks between the two of us. “So you want me to leave?”

“Yes,” I point toward the door.

He turns to go and stops and wheels back around, “Is this a Robbins/Torres issue or a Sofia issue?”

“Mark,” Arizona groans. “Just go.”

“A blonde ex-girlfriend issue?” he asks my wife pointedly.

“It’s a ‘I was in a coma’ issue,” I answer before she gets the notion to charge him.

True to form a look passed between them. The look that I’ve seen pass between them about a hundred times in the past year. It’s a look of guilt. It’s a look of shared grief. It’s a look that means I don’t know everything there is to know. And it’s always there. And they’ve never explained it.

“Well, I’ll let you two get back to your discussion then,” the man says as he swiftly exits. Two seconds later he sticks his head back through the door, “Oh yeah, I’ll get out on time, so I’ll pick Sofia up.”

“Yeah, Dad night, gotcha.”

The door closes completely, before I fix Arizona with a stare, “Okay, once and for all, what is that about?”

“What’s what about, Calliope?”

“It’s like a secret handshake with you two.”

“There’s no big secret, Callie.”

“Which is confirmation that there is a big secret, Arizona.”

She rubs at her eyes, she’s tired. It was a long night with Sofia and now today has just dragged on, too. She seems to physically shake off the exhaustion, “We had a disagreement. One disagreement in about a thousand we’ve had in the last couple of years.”

“Except?”

“Except nothing,” she brushes a stray curl behind her ear and avoids eye contact. “We resolved it.”

“How was it resolved?”

“Sofia was born.”

“And?”

“And she pulled through and we had to...get over it.”

“She pulled through because of you.”

Arizona didn’t respond verbally, just a small shrug.

“So, you saved the baby and that magically resolved a disagreement you two had while I was in a coma? I’m still missing a link here, Arizona,” Callie struggles.

“Yes, we were parents, together,” she scratches at her forehead where there‘s barely a trace of that scar. Anybody else would have missed it, I didn’t. “And, at that moment, it was just us, we didn’t know if you…”

“Yeah, okay,” I let her off the hook. She doesn’t want to say those particular words and I don’t really enjoy hearing them. “But, you were already parents before she was born and before you saved her.”

“Well, apparently not all of us agreed.”

“Not all of us, meaning Mark?” Callie gathers.

“By the process of elimination, I guess that would have to be the one.”

“Arizona, why are you being so weird about this? Just tell me what happened.”

“Because, Callie, it was a long time ago. It was the scariest day of our lives. Both of us were terrified we were losing you.”

“What did he say to you?”

“It doesn’t and shouldn’t matter now.”

“But, it kinda does, Arizona. You still resent it. You try not to, but I can tell every time the topic is broached, you shut down. You eye him like you want to tear his heart out.”

“We both said things we shouldn’t have. I called him a sperm donor. He said I was nothing.”

I feel a heaviness on my shoulders all of a sudden. I didn’t know it had gotten quite that bad between them. “He said you were nothing?”

“In relation to our family, yeah,” she pulls her hair back, slipping it into a ponytail. “That’s what happened, Callie. He apologized and he seemed sincere about it, but…forgive, but never forget, you know?”

“I’m familiar with the concept.”

“Yeah,” she says sadly.

“And you called him a sperm donor?”

“Yeah, I did. It was a low blow. I was pissed at him.”

“What else?”

“Nothing else.”

“I know you, Robbins. You gave in too easily, what else?”

“Giving you the blow by blow is not going to make you feel better.”

“No, it’s not. But, I want to know.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“Why wouldn’t I? This is my family, you two are my wife and my best friend. You’re two of the three most important people in my life. So tell me.”

Arizona’s face goes blank and her voice is suddenly more robotic than I’ve ever heard before, “I wanted to save you both. I couldn’t let…I knew you would…If you were here, but she wasn’t. I couldn’t let that happen.“

“Of course, you couldn’t.”

“But Mark, he…,” she pauses and breathes in deeply. “He loves you, Callie. You’re his best friend. And he was going to do whatever it took to make sure you lived. Because you couldn’t be replaced.”

“Okay?” It’s a question because I know there’s more.

“I don’t blame him for that. It makes sense, but…I was the one who would have had to tell you…that she wasn’t here. That would have been on me,” she looks away, finding a sudden interest in the wall of the on-call room. “He was under the impression as long as we saved you, then there could be another baby.”

“That I could still have another baby if I lost Sofia?”

“Yeah, well, that you two could still have another baby.”

I have to admit, I was confused at first. But when the realization dawns on me, I knew exactly why neither of them ever wanted to repeat what had been said. “Oh.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I asked you to tell me.”

“I know, I’m still sorry,” she tugs at her lab coat. “I think both of us would love to take that entire conservation back. But, we can’t. It was a moment of fear and weakness and…well, I think we thought if we ignored it long enough, eventually it would go away.”

I let it sink in. For how long, I’m not sure. Long enough for her to begin fidgeting. “I should be the one who’s sorry.”

“For what, Calliope?”

“You should never have been in that situation.”

“Baby, it’s not like any of us wanted that.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. The accident was just that, an accident,” I swipe a tear that was trying to escape my eye. “You should have never been in a position in which you had to fight someone else for decisions about my care. I should have made that clearer…because if they had listened to him…”

“I would never have let that happen,” she says as she crosses the room to engulf me in a hug. “I would have handcuffed myself to your hospital bed. Or welded the doors to your room shut. I protect the things I love, Calliope.”

I laugh despite the tears that are still threatening to fall, “Thank you.”

“You’re my girl,” she releases the hug, but her hands go to my face as she pulls me in for a kiss. “No need to thank me.”

“Yes, there is.”

We stand in that room a while holding each other. I’ve often thought about what I would do if our positions had been reversed that day. What if I had been the one watching her struggle to live? I don’t think I could have been nearly as strong as I’ve been told she was. I’ve imagined what it must have been like, and it’s heartbreaking. But, now, I’m imagining what it must be like to be in that moment with my best friend berating her for wanting to save our child. And that’s…well…incomprehensible.

She pulls out of my embrace, “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

She smiles a little. A comforting smile, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Arizona, I’m sure.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Think about it so hard, you'll go crazy.”

“Oh,” I laugh humorlessly. “Sure, okay.”

“No,” her hand trails to the front of my scrub top and she tugs. “I’m serious. Let it go. For you. For me. For Sofe. For M-”

“Mark?”

“What’s the point now?” she tilts her head in question.

“I’ll try.”

“Thank you,” she checks her watch and starts toward the door. “I have rounds, then I’m heading home to change for dinner tonight. Meeting Katie in the lobby, you still wanna meet her?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll text you the time,” She punches at an invisible phone with her thumbs. “We’ll talk more about this later, if you want.”

“We don’t have to.”

“But we will,” she says as she reaches behind her to open the door. She turns to look me in the eye before she leaves, “I’m happy, Calliope. And I love you.”

“Love you more,” I reply the way we often do.

***

I never thought I’d be thrilled to just have a simple, old boring surgery. When you come so close to never having another one at all, you’re just fine with simple and routine. Plus, add in the drama of Arizona vs. Mark, and I was glad I didn’t have to think too much. What to do? Should I leave it alone? It was a year ago. We are pretty highly functioning for dysfunctional now. Delving into all this again could just bring back all the animosity between them.

I’m lost in thought when distracted by the ringing of my phone, I can’t help but smile at the name that adorns my caller ID. “Hey Mom!”

“Callie?” I hear on the other end of the line. “Is that you? I didn’t think I’d actually catch you, I was just going to leave a message.”

“Yeah, it’s me. I just got out of surgery. How ya doing? Get the pictures?”

“Yes,” She gushes. “That’s why I called. She’s so beautiful, and getting so big.”

“I know!”

“I’m so excited about next week, you and Arizona are still okay with us coming, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer. “We’re both excited to see you.”

“Well, she said so, but I wanted to check with you, too.”

“Barbara, you and the Colonel are welcome anytime.”

“Aw, you’re such a sweetheart,” Mrs. Robbins drawls. “That stubborn girl of mine did good.”

“Believe me when I say, I did better,” I say seriously, thinking back on our conversation just an hour or so earlier. “She amazes me everyday.”

“I’m proud of my girls, all three of ya,” she pauses for a second and says something muffled to who I’m assuming is the Colonel. “Daniel says to have Arizona call her ol’ Dad. And give little Sofia a big kiss from Grampy Dan. From me, too, while you‘re at it.”

“No problem.” It warms my heart that Arizona’s parents are so completely accepting of both Sofia and I into their lives.

“Well, I’m gonna let you get back to work, Callie. Can’t wait to see all of you next week. Love ya.”

“Love you, Barbara, next week.” I push END on my cell and notice the message waiting for me.

Hey Dr. Mrs. Robbins, 6:15. Lobby. Be there or be square. LOL. I love you! - Your Wife :)

Love was pouring in from all the Robbins‘. After the wedding, Barbara and Daniel went out of their way to treat me like I was just as much a daughter to them as Arizona. And, while I’ll be forever grateful, sometimes it just makes me miss my own mother.

Then I remember the coldness. I can’t help but see the look on her face, the disdain for her own grandchild, and I wonder how I could have been raised by such a person. I still talk to my father. Our conversations are on a semi-regular basis, but it was difficult to rise above what had happened. He often asks about Sofia and Arizona, but not with the same love in his voice like that of the Robbins’.

That’s where my wife got her incredible capacity to love. Her strength and fortitude are classic Daniel Robbins. And that perky, bubbly smile is the same one that Barbara carries on her face. I got so damn lucky when she decided to be a parent to my child. I never, ever forget that. Well, I never forget it now.

***

I can tell Arizona is surprised when I emerge from the stairwell and not the elevator, but she doesn't question it. “Hey,” she says with a wink.

“Hey,” I slide my hand over her hip and toy with the hem of her shirt as soon as I get to her. We tend to do that, make some kind of connection. “I just got off the phone with your mom.”

“Oh?” She starts to grab for her own phone out of her purse.

“Yeah, she got the pictures of Sofia.”

“Oh,” she grins. “What did she say? And why does she always call you now?”

“That our kid is freakin’ gorgeous and call your dad.” Then I say with a flair, “And ’cause she luh-oves me.”

As I finish the sentence I see someone appear out of the corner of my eye. It must be the Sex Friend because Arizona gives a small wave.

“So, Calliope,” she points behind me. “This is Katie.”

“Katie, this is my wife, Callie.”

I turn to find the woman who had become the bane of my existence for the day. And well, she’s blonde. She’s a little shorter than me. Her eyes are green, but nothing too spectacular. I was wholly underwhelmed, but maybe that would have been the case even if Cindy Crawford had bounced through the double doors. She gives me a friendly enough smile while she extends her hand for me to shake.

“Katie,” reciprocating and shaking her offered hand. “Hi.”

“Hello, Calliope,” the blonde says. “Arizona just couldn’t stop gushing about you earlier.”

“Callie,” I correct. “Just Callie.”

“Oh, sorry,” I feel a very slight nudge which is most likely a ‘be nice’ nudge. “Your daughter is beautiful.”

“Thanks,” I offer her a genuine smile at the compliment. “We think so.”

“My partner and I are just starting the process of picking a donor, so…”

“Really?” Arizona pipes up. “That’s awesome, Kate.”

“Yeah,” she brushes her hair back. “We’re really excited and a little terrified, but I’m sure you guys understand that feeling.”

This is always the point in conversations that I feel terrible for my wife. Not that I could do a damn thing about it, and not that I would change it now. So, I change the subject instead, “So you knew my Arizona way back when?”

“Yes,” Katie touches Arizona’s arm lightly for a second. “When she was a crazy med student.”

“Crazy, huh?” I prod. “I always imagined her being all studious and determined back then.”

“That’s one of the benefits of being really smart and supremely talented,” Katie laughs. “She could power through a pub crawl and still impress the hell out of an attending the next morning.”

I narrow my eyes at my wife. I’ve never heard any stories to that effect, “Really?”

“That happened once,” Arizona shook her head, then shyly added, “Maybe twice.”

“Hm,” I lean further into the front desk. “So it wasn’t all studying and GSA rallies? Interesting.”

“Oh, don’t let the innocent face fool you. She had her moments,” Katie touches Arizona’s arm again and I barely stop myself from slapping her hand away.

Sadly, before I got the chance to assure her that I was completely aware of how not innocent my wife could be, my pager goes off. “Damn. I have a patient.”

“We should be going anyway,” Arizona hooks her thumb over her shoulder. She then grabs my left hand and between hers and rubs it for a second. “I love you, I’ll see you tonight. Don’t fall asleep without me.”

“I love you,” I let her get both our arms lengths away before I pull her back into me. I reach up to cradle her face in my hands and slowly and purposely kiss her with as much passion as I can conjure up in the middle of the hospital lobby without security being alerted. So maybe sometimes, I’m not so good at the super professionalism either. And maybe sometimes my wife forgets that I’m a terrible example and just lets me initiate a total makeout session in the middle of our workplace. And maybe sometimes I get irrationally jealous and have to stake my claim. So sue me.

When Arizona finally turns away, I mentally pat myself on the back for her breathlessness. Katie’s a little slack jawed at the show we had just given, and I figure it’s a fine time to give her the brow.

“Nice meeting you, Katie.”

“Likewise,” she placates me with a huge fake smile.

“Bye, Honey,” I say sweetly. “I’ll wait up.”

***

I trudge down the hallway to my apartment and unlock my own door to throw my stuff in before knocking on Mark’s door. I hear quite a bit of shuffling around before he pulls the door open and says, “Hey,” before immediately returning to our daughter and the blanket they are playing on.

“Hey, I just came by to say goodnight.” When she sees me her little face lights up, which is something I never ever get tired of, “Sofia!”

“Ma,” her smile grows a little wider.

“How was your day?”

She nods, still grinning, before her attention is diverted to something shiny in her Dad’s hand.

“Good, then?”

And with that she’s back to playing.

Mark chuckles as he rubs her little head, “So you and Robbins?”

“Fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, Mark.”

“Good.”

I eye him a second. He notices. “She told me.”

“Yeah, I figured she would eventually,” he says, rubbing his beard. “She held out for a lot longer than I expected.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“When exactly would have been the best time to say that?” Mark asks. “While Sofe was in the NICU? At your wedding? Any of the times you’ve thrown me out of your apartment?”

“I’m married, Mark.”

“We share a child, Callie.”

“Yes, all three of us,” I do a fantastic job of keeping the anger out of my voice. “Nothing?”

“It wasn’t my best moment, Cal,” he looks me in the eye. “But it was a long time ago. We got over it, we had to.” He points at Sofia, “She’s more important than things we said in the heat of the moment.”

“Those weren’t just things you said, Mark,” I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you would think it, let alone say it.”

“I’m not the only one who said stupid and hurtful things that night.”

“No,” I shift my weight to my other foot. “But you were completely disrespectful of my entire relationship.”

“Callie, with all due respect, you weren’t there-”

“No sh--,” I look down at the baby and catch myself. “Sugar, Mark. That’s kind of the point. You wouldn’t have said that if I had been there.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “She knows I’m sorry. Now, you do, too.”

“It wouldn’t have happened, by the way.”

His brows knit in confusion, “What?”

“There wouldn’t have been a redo,” I walk over and pick up my little girl for a hug. “I love her more than anything and everything. But, there wouldn’t have been a redo.”

“I know that.”

“No, I don’t think you did. But, I’m telling you now. I know we’ve all moved on, but I’m telling you definitively. I never planned to do it this way and I wouldn’t have compromised my relationship with Arizona to do it again. She and Sofia are my life, Mark. You’re Sofe’s dad. For that reason and that reason alone, you’re part of our family. We’re friends. Best friends. But, there’s no way it would have happened again.”

“Duly noted,” he says with a nod. “Trust that I would take it back if I could.”

“Yeah.”

“What I said,” Mark wiggles her knobby little knee. “Not her.”

“I know,” I admit as I rub our daughter’s back. “And now that she’s here, Arizona wouldn’t trade her for anything either.”

“She’s pretty awesome,” Mark replies as he tweaks Sofia’s nose.

I laugh, “My wifey is rubbing off on you a little, Mark Sloan.”

“God forbid,“ He shoots me a mock look of terror before settling back into an easy smile, “Tell her to come by for story time. Sofia would love it.”

Story time is one of Sofia’s favorite things. The catch is she wants both Mommy and Daddy to do super story time voices. So despite the somewhat awkward situation, Arizona and Mark both cuddle up next to her and read our baby girl to sleep every once and a while. It’s both the sweetest and most hilarious thing I’ve ever witnessed.

“Will do,” I hand her back to her Daddy. “If you need anything, I’ll be at the apartment.”

“We’ll be fine.”

***

The steady knocking at my door finally woke me from the freaking delicious nap I was partaking in. I finally was able to get a little shuteye after the most exhausting day ever. Really, I was trying to not think about Arizona being at dinner with stupid whatserface or that Sofia was at her Dad’s. I just wanted to settle in for some rest, so whoever was knocking was seriously pissing me off and I didn’t even know who it was yet.

“What?” I yell in the general direction of the hallway.

“It’s me,” the disembodied voice came from the other side of the door.

“Dammit, Cristina,” I begrudgingly lift my exhausted self off the couch and open the door. “What’s up?”

“Here,” she shoved a bright pink gift bag, with newspapers sticking out the top, into my hands. “For the kid.”

This wasn’t new. Cristina had changed her mind about being Sofia’s godmother during my hospital stay. I was never sure how or why, although I have my suspicions. And well, Cristina’s version of being my child’s godmother was to show up regularly with “gifts.” One time it was a t-shirt that said, “My Moms are the Bombs” sized 4T. The gift after that was a six foot balloon shaped like a penguin with a Snickers bar weighing it down. She had even shown up with a motorized Barbie jeep at one point, so to say I was curious was an understatement.

“A DVD?” I ask. pulling out a disc encased in bright pink plastic with ‘YANG, M.D.’ printed on it. “What is this?”

“It’s a bypass, I had Mer help me out with the filming,” she says proudly. “Don’t worry, I had the patient’s face pixilated.”

“Wholly appropriate for my year old child.” I return to the comfort of my sofa, Cristina follows hot on my trail.

The sarcasm is lost on her because she’s completely undeterred, “I explained in detail all the techniques and got a really good view of the valve replacement. I was only first assist, but I figured the kid won’t jump right into doing procedures on her own, so it won’t hurt.”

“You know, Arizona had planned for her and Sofe to watch her Care Bears: The Complete Series discs tomorrow, but this,” I tap on the plastic covering. “Much better.”

“Seriously, Callie. I can respect that Rollergirl is Peds. But, you’re Ortho. Sloan is Plastics. Freakin’ plastics.” She does a full body shiver, “Sofia has to have some balance in her life. I don’t want her to think there isn’t another specialty…a better specialty.”

“Thanks for respecting our career choices.”

“I know, I know,” she says seriously. “I’ll be in her life, though. That’s a start.”

“We‘re all relieved,” I drop the disc back into the bag and set it on the table. Arizona will have a field day with this. When I told her my choice for a godparent, she nearly had a conniption. This is why, and she never fails to remind me.

Cristina takes a second to look around the apartment and gestures toward the rumpled blanket on the couch, “Did I wake you?”

“Uh,” I briefly consider saying yes and kicking her out, but with her and Owen still on the outs it seems really inconsiderate. “Nah, I was just lounging around.”

“No Rollergirl?”

“Arizona! Why is that so hard for you people. No, Air-a-zone-a is not here.”

“Riding her magical unicorn on roads paved with rainbows while sprinkling magic fairy dust on deserving ankle biters?”

“Nope, not at work, out with a friend.”

“The blonde, huh?”

“You heard too,” I pick at the couch in frustration.

“It was all over the hospital this afternoon,” she puts her hands in her pockets. “Then I heard somebody say they saw you two practically dry humping in the lobby, so…I figured it wasn‘t a big deal.”

“We were not dry humping,” I shake my head. “And, yeah, they’re just catching up over dinner.”

“You didn’t go?”

“Late surgery.”

“Kid’s with Mark tonight?”

“Yep, Dad’s night.”

“Oh,” Cristina takes the opportunity to pull a bottle of tequila out of the bag slung around her shoulder. “So you wanna do a couple shots then?”

I laugh heartily. “Sure, Yang. I’ll grab some glasses.”

***

I wake up to Arizona sliding into bed beside me. She punches at her pillow a few times and kicks her feet around, getting comfortable. I glance up at the clock to see it had only been an hour since I came to bed myself.

She sees the movement, and shimmies closer to me, “I thought you were waiting up.”

“I’m awake.”

“Liar!” She throws a leg over mine.

“I tried and failed,” I confess as I grab her thigh and tangle our feet together.

“Aww.”

“Did you catch story time?” I ask, sleep still lacing my voice.

“Yeah, I was over there for a half hour. Cat in the Hat.”

“Oh, that’s a good one.”

“Shots with Cristina?” she inquires.

“Yeah, she just dropped in,” I mumble.

“She’s still passed out on the couch,” my wife informs me.

“Is she?”

“Yeah, scared the hell out of me.”

That wakes me up a bit, “Why? What did you do?”

“It was dark, I thought it was you, I was going to wake you up,” she runs her hand along my collarbone. “I was halfway to a boob before I realized the boob was too small.”

I cracked up at that, even half way asleep, “She’ll be bummed she narrowly missed being felt up by Arizona Robbins.”

“She should be so lucky,” she said matter-of-factly. “Her and Owen still having a rough time?”

“Yeah.”

“Aw, that sucks,” she sounds dejected by that news. It doesn’t stop her from running her hands under my shirt, though.

“So?“ I try not to sound too concerned. “How was dinner with Kathy?”

“Dinner with Katie was fine.”

“Fine, huh?”

“Yep, fine. Just fine. Not great. Not terrible.”

“So, you’re not going to run off with her?”

“Calliope, no. No way in hell. Ever.”

“Just checkin’.”

“Not when I have a freaking gorgeous, sexy wife right here in my bed. All convenient like.”

“Convenience? That’s what this marriage is based on?”

“Oh absolutely, Babe,” Arizona kisses my shoulder lightly. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“Vaguely,” I joke.

She snickers and I feel her breath graze the skin of my neck.

“You know you could never be nothing to me, right?” I ask sincerely. “You’re everything, Arizona. You have to know that, right?”

Her hand trails up to my scar and she traces it lightly before splaying her hand over my heart. Another habit she’s picked up in the last year. It comforts her to feel my heartbeat.

“Mm, I know,” she sighs peacefully and I know there’s only a minute or so left before she falls asleep. “Life’s good, Calliope.”

“It certainly is,” I agree before I let my eyes drift shut again.