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They all parted ways downstairs. A glowing Meredith, a pleased Derek and a loopy Cristina waved goodbye from the car stand. Arizona looped her arm through Callie's and leaned on her, soaking up her warmth through her coat and taking the pressure of her left leg, which was starting to itch again below the knee.
"I had a good time tonight," she confessed.
She hadn't planned on having a good time. She'd dreaded the dinner as soon as Callie suggested it--images of an inert and pale Mark and her own bone protruding obscenely through her leg were the first things she'd seen. Then the cries that haunted her, her own cries on the forest floor, but somehow disassociated from herself.
Yet Callie had gotten that adorable look in her eye and Arizona had to admit that seeing the queasy expression on Derek's face had inspired her to say yes. She kind of enjoyed seeing the way her wife rubbed him in all the wrong ways. Because even though he and Callie went together like ice cream and pickles they somehow still…fit. Each taking up that massive hole left by Mark. Filling a much need purpose in each other's lives. Derek made Callie confident with his trust and she kept him there on the ground with the rest of the mortals.
The chance of seeing Callie bounce off Derek at a dinner with his wife and Cristina had almost made it worth the discomfort of spending a few hours with that particular group.
Callie covered Arizona's hand with her own and tilted her head, so it rested briefly against hers. "I did too. You know after the awkwardness that was most of dinner."
"I have never experienced anything more awkward."
"Even that time I outed you to the entire hospital with a candid of the two of us?"
Yeah, that had been bad. Not because Arizona was ashamed of her sexuality, but because she tended to be a low key person and having the entire hospital find out she was seeing Callie because of a photo popping up in the middle of her powerpoint had been--
"Okay, that was a little awkward. And the bit where you mentioned sleeping with Alex made it worse in retrospect, but nope, tonight was officially the most awkward experience in my life."
Her wife laughed, the sound ringing off the buildings around them and bouncing right back into Arizona, making her feel almost as loopy as Yang had looked towards the end of dinner.
"I'm glad I could help," Callie said.
Arizona snuggled closer and Callie seemed to grow stronger. Like she was holding Arizona up rather than just standing close. It wasn’t a conscious thing on her part either. Arizona glanced up and saw Callie looking straight ahead, that gorgeous smile gracing her lips, her head far from thoughts of Arizona’s leg.
She seemed to sense she was being stared at though. She looked down at. “What,” she started to ask. But Arizona wouldn’t let her. She leaned up into an open mouth kiss, her tongue sweeping into Callie’s mouth almost of its own accord. Maybe it was the champagne or the fifteen million dollars or standing for five straight hours in the OR.
No, it was Callie. A salve to her soul. She’d thought it before but in that moment it was never truer. Callie had saved her. And then, she’d pulled the worst and most awkward dinner of Arizona’s life out of a tailspin and forced them all through sheer willpower to realize how good things could be—how good they had to be, and Arizona loved her for it.
They paused right there on the sidewalk, turning into each other and deepening the kiss. Callie’s hands held Arizona’s face so gently and she grabbed whole bunches of fabric at Callie’s waist. A heat she desperately missed uncoiled in the pit of her and she found herself pushing Callie back until she pressed against a street sign. She almost lost her balance, but Callie held her up and let her disappear into the embrace, supporting her in every way fathomable.
She couldn't quite control it even if she wanted to. They'd been building, slowly, towards the intimacy they'd once shared. Every kiss now was more ardent than the one before. Every touch more impassioned--
“GET A ROOM!” They broke apart just in time to see Derek’s car zoom by with Cristina hanging out the window in the back and cackling at them.
Arizona looked up at Callie and Callie looked down at Arizona and they both burst out laughing. She sagged against her wife’s shoulder and Callie ran a hand through her hair before dropping a kiss on top of her head. “She seems perky,” she said into Arizona's hair.
“Who knew it only took two glasses of champagne to bring out fun Cristina?”
“Hm,” Callie murmured. Her arms encircled Arizona’s waist. Arizona let herself rest against her. She wouldn’t have before. Not for a long time. She’d always been the one holding Callie up and she’d liked that about them. Callie would throw an arm over her shoulder and Arizona would support her, but she couldn’t do that anymore. She didn’t have the strength to, and she might never.
So she had to lean against Callie, and let her bear the weight. Callie did happily too. She didn’t comment. Just held Arizona and said nothing—content to stand on the sidewalk and let the wind run up the street and buffet against her back.
“Thank you.”
Callie squeezed her tight but still said nothing. Because they didn’t need speeches or to endlessly process the minutiae of their lives. Sometimes words of whispered thanks on a chilly street after a comfortable kiss was all that was necessary.
They made their way home, and not a moment too soon. Arizona was barely able to walk as they stepped off the elevator. Five hours straight on her feet in the OR and then walking to dinner and back had her exhausted and sore all over. Her left leg was the worst. The pain came and went. It had gotten better since she'd gone back to work but now it was back to aching again and forcing her to limp heavily. Callie didn’t say anything, just tucked her in close and half carried her down the hall.
Claudia, with her Burt-like eyebrows and penchant for tidying up grinned when she saw them, filling them in on the events at home. Arizona only smiled politely and shuffled to their bedroom where she flopped down onto the bed and resisted the groan of relief that bubbled up from her throat.
In the other room Callie chatted amicably with the babysitter then she ducked into Sofia’s room, wordlessly giving Arizona the privacy she needed to remove her leg and massage the sore muscles.
Yes, things had changed in little ways since Bailey’s wedding. They were more affectionate but without the awkwardness and Callie no longer hid her hungry gaze. She seemed to have found her patience too, refusing to tease or get short with Arizona when she mentioned her leg.
And she…she avoided being in the room when Arizona took it off.
It was such a tiny thing. She didn’t apologize for all the times she’d stared almost garishly. Nor did she avert her eyes when Arizona caught her sneaking a glance, but she was…polite about it all now. Respectful of Arizona. So every night and every morning she found somewhere else to be while Arizona dealt with it.
When she finally came back in she was carrying half a bottle of rose they’d started a few days earlier and two glasses. Arizona raised an eyebrow, “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were trying to get me drunk.”
Callie smiled shyly and sat on the edge of the bed, pouring a glass and handing it to her. “We need to finish the bottle and I need to toast you.”
“Me?”
Her wife had this smile. This one very particular smile. She’d smile at Arizona and she would feel like she could take on nearly anything. It was like Callie’s smile could give her…superpowers or something. And she let it loose then before softly saying, “Yeah, you goof.”
She stared down at the pink wine in her glass. “Why?”
“Because you stood in the OR for five hours today.”
“Didn’t we toast that at dinner?”
“Mh hm, but we got sidetracked by babies and sexting.”
She held her own glass up and Arizona reluctantly tore her eyes away from her wine to look at Callie. There were unshed tears in her eyes, the happy sad ones that she was sure would never quite go away now with Mark gone, but they seemed, maybe, a little happier than sad this time.
Quietly they brought their glasses up. The edges brushed against each other—the only sound in the room. Callie just smiled and Arizona could only smile back. Their eyes never left one another as they brought the glasses to their lips. Cool wine ran across her tongue, a burst of fruitiness on her tastebuds.
She leaned forward almost imperceptibly, but Callie noticed and crossed the rest of the distance, kissing her softly. They parted sweetly. Each woman studying the other—gauging them for a reaction. Callie must have seen something because she grinned and darted forward to kiss Arizona’s cheek before hopping off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom.
Arizona gulped down the rest of her wine and buried herself in the sheets, lying flat on her back and staring at the ceiling. Her leg burned a little just below the knee and she shut her eyes, choosing instead to think of Callie kissing her. That had been nice.
The mattress dipped as Callie got back into bed and the room grew dark when Callie flicked the lights off.
"You okay," she asked.
"Yeah."
And she was. Things bothered her of course. The pain in her missing leg still flared up. Sometimes waking her in the middle of the night, or in this instance, itching fiercly and keeping her from getting comfortable. But she was alive. And she had the most perfect wife in creation, and a beautiful daughter and, apparently, fifteen million dollars.
"What do you think they're going to name the baby," she asked into the darkness.
"Mark if it's a boy. Lexie if it's a girl," Callie muttered.
Arizona didn't even need to look over to know her wife's eyes were closed. She always had this tone to her voice when they were.
"Really?"
"How should I know?"
"You know we're kind of that kid's aunt."
"How do you figure?"
"Mark always called Zola his niece and Sofia's kind of Derek's niece right?"
"Yeah."
"So we're kind of aunts."
"Mark would want us to make sure that kid didn't get too much of Derek's ego."
She snorted, "From the man who trained Jackson Avery. I'm surprised that guy's head fit in the OR today."
"He was just showing off."
"I wanted to thump him."
Callie rolled over and gave Arizona a quick squeeze around the middle. "Go to sleep. You'll feel less violent in the morning."
"I'm rich now Callie. I could pay to have him kicked off a cliff."
"I'll let him know tomorrow." Lips pressed against her shoulder in the darkness. "Now go to sleep."
Arizona closed her eyes. She tried to sleep then. She really did. Her day had been so good and Callie had been so good. There was this one weight that had sat on her shoulder since the crash and it was finally lifted.
But her leg was still itching.
And it wasn't even there.