Fanfic: Bulletproof (2/3)
Title: Bulletproof (2/3)
Author: elpmas03
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Summary: Crazy aunts and awkward introductions. Is there anything else that happens at family gatherings?
“Whaaa tell them what exactly?” Arizona asks, needing to hear it out loud.
All three woman look at the man with the ashamed look on his face, staring at the floor and avoiding any form of eye contact possible. Callie’s face scrunches at Arizona’s question.
“Yeah…what did you tell them?” Callie asks, bracing herself for the answer.
“Well,” Carlos takes a deep breath and glances at his wife for her to save him.
“Calliope, you have to understand,” Christina interrupts, taking a few steps forward and standing next to her husband defensively. “He just couldn’t find a way to tell them. You know how they all are. It’s not that we didn’t want to tell them, it just…we couldn’t find a way to-“
“You couldn’t find a way? How hard is it to say? You’re both educated people I’m sure you could’ve come up with something!” Callie voice escalates as she continues to speak.
“Callie,” Arizona’s low warning calms Callie down for a second before she sees her father give Arizona a thankful smile and she breaks again.
“No,” she mumbles under her voice to Arizona and focuses on her father again. “You are going to tell them. You are going to tell them or I will. And I will do it right in front of everyone in the middle of dinner.”
Carlos’s eyes widen in horror at the thought of his very old mother having a possible stroke in the middle of Christmas Eve dinner before the night is even over. He has two options-tell them himself at the end of the night or have Callie blurt it out of nowhere in the middle of their traditional family dinner.
“Okay, okay,” he blurts out anxiously. “I will tell them, I promise. Just…give me a little time to lead them into it first, please?”
Callie searches for Arizona out of the corner of her eye, trying to make sure she’s okay with this before she agrees to anything.
“It’s fine,” Arizona whispers and smiles reassuringly; it’s times like these where Callie wonders how she ever captured someone like the woman before her.
Callie shakes her head and lets out a deep sigh of annoyance. “Fine,” she groans angrily at her father. “But you better do it sooner rather than later, or I will.”
“Of course,” he agrees and turns to leave the room with his wife behind him. He pauses before leaving the room and turns back to his daughter. “I’m sorry, mija.”
Giving Arizona a tiny smile, he shuts the door behind him and heads back downstairs. As soon as her parents leave the room, Callie flops back onto her bed and rests her head in her hands.
“This can’t be happening,” she mumbles as Arizona takes a step and stands in front of her.
“It will be okay,” Arizona assures her, reaching down and removing her girlfriend’s hands from her face. “We’ll just be friends from work and no one will have to know until he tells them.”
Callie links the fingers of both of her hands with Arizona’s and gives her an incredulous look. The kind of look that says ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ at the same time.
“I just can’t believe he didn’t tell them. And I can’t believe he tricked us into coming here without telling me.”
“Well, he did look really sorry. I’m sure he wanted to tell them, he just couldn’t push himself to do it. It’s a lot to handle and I’m sure he just wanted to see you. That’s why he didn’t tell you. He loves you and misses you and wants you to be happy,” Arizona tries to soothe over the worry raging inside of the woman sitting in front of her.
“I hate you sometimes, you know that?” Callie jokes and wonders how someone can be so good. All. Of. The time.
Arizona lets out a quiet giggle and reaches up to tuck a stray curl behind Callie’s ear. “You love me,” she responds, bending down to peck Callie lightly on the lips. When she moves to stand back up straight, however, Callie wraps her hand around her neck and pulls her on top of her, shifting her own weight so they’re lying on the bed.
“That, I do,” Callie agrees before pulling Arizona’s lips to her own and kissing her passionately. It doesn’t take long for tongues to start gliding against each other and hands to roam every part of each other’s bodies. Callie takes her time exploring Arizona’s lips and mouth with her tongue, managing to snake her hands underneath the red shirt of her girlfriend before Arizona reluctantly pulls away.
“Calliope,” Arizona warns before her lips are pulled back down to continue their little make-out session. She smiles against Callie’s lips and pulls away again. “As amazing as that tongue of yours is,” she whispers, grabbing one of Callie’s hands that’s about to reach her butt and pinning it on the bed above her head. “We should really, really get downstairs.”
“Mmm, no thank you,” Callie answers as Arizona sits up to straddle her waist. Callie runs her finger nails up and down Arizona’s legs over her jeans, not even attempting to hide the dirty thoughts racing through her mind right now. Arizona smiles and leans down so her lips are tickling Callie’s ear.
“If we go down now I’ll let you go down on me later,” Arizona whispers and pats herself on the back when she hears the quiet moan come from Callie.
She gives her one more reassuring peck on the lips and hops off the bed, pulling Callie’s hands so she stands up with her.
“It will be okay,” Arizona says confidently. “I’ll be right next to you.”
“I know,” Callie replies and follows up with a gentle kiss on the cheek.
They stare at each other for a few more seconds, both willing the other to trust. Arizona straightens her shirt and runs her hands through her hair a few times.
“How do I look?” she asks with a dimpled smile.
“Hot,” Callie states bluntly.
“Good,” Arizona replies with a sharp nod. “I wasn’t joking about keeping my options open.”
Callie shakes her head and watches as her girlfriend confidently struts out of the room. She takes a deep breath and straightens her own hair quickly before following close behind.
This should be interesting.
********************************************************************************************************
Just before Arizona starts to round the corner from the kitchen into the living room, Callie reaches out and holds her back. She gives the confused and adorable woman before her a reassuring smile before stepping in front of her and leading the way herself. As soon as they step into the enormous room, everyone goes silent. There have to be at least forty people scattered before them. They’re all dressed in red, green, or white, and sipping on various drinks and food; moments before, the room was full of loud chatter and laughter. Not anymore. Arizona doesn’t know what to do. Did he tell them already? Is that why they’re all staring at her and Callie as if they’re waiting for them to speak? A few more seconds of strange silence pass before a sly grin stretches across Callie’s face. The blonde next to her can’t help but wonder if she missed something. She glances behind her back and jumps when the room suddenly bursts into noise as she turns around.
Everyone is calling Callie’s name, telling her how much they’ve missed her ever since she became a hotshot doctor across the country. Arizona stands back a little awkwardly, but amused as multiple relatives step forward, leaving lipstick marks and nearly broken ribs on her girlfriend when they greet her. It takes an older woman, who Arizona can only assume is Callie’s grandmother, to step forward before she’s finally noticed.
“And who is this beautiful girl?” Callie’s grandma asks after giving her granddaughter’s cheeks a quick pinch. She stops suddenly when Callie spins around and her hair whips across her shoulders. “And Calliope, dear. What is going on with this hair?” she complains motioning to the dark locks on Callie’s shoulders.
Arizona snorts quietly when Callie’s eyes widen for a moment in anger before she motions to introduce the two of them.
“Everyone, this is Arizona,” Callie announces causing her girlfriend to blush a little at all of the sudden attention. “She’s…”
Callie hesitates before continuing, clearly uneasy about lying to her family. Before she can finish the introduction, Arizona comes to her rescue.
“I’m a friend-a doctor…a doctor friend at the hospital Callie works at…in Seattle,” Arizona pipes up and shoots her hand forward. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Callie’s grandmother hesitates briefly and looks from the hand in front of her to Arizona several times, almost as if she’s studying her thoughts. The blonde shifts uncomfortable, shooting Callie a nervous look only to get a confused shrug of the shoulders in response. She lets out the breath she’s holding as soon as Callie’s grandmother giggles quietly.
“Oh dear,” she chuckles. “We don’t do handshakes in this family,” she almost shouts, getting an encouraging murmur of agreement from the people behind her. She takes a few confident steps forward and wraps her arms tightly around Arizona, squeezing her gently before pulling back.
“I’m Calliope,” she introduces herself and her smile grows when Arizona’s eyes light up at her name. “Well…now I’m the ‘Old Calliope’ thanks to this beautiful one over here,” she adds on and darts her head to the side to indicate her granddaughter is the one she’s talking about. Arizona’s lips form into a beaming smile at this new piece of Callie she never knew. She covers her obvious gesture with a quiet cough before answering.
“Well…you can’t be a day over thirty,” Arizona jokes.
“I like her already,” Callie’s grandmother mumbles to her granddaughter as she turns back towards her family.
Callie simply smiles at her grandma and gives her girlfriend an impressed eyebrow raise that’s met with a confident shrug of the shoulders.
“Charming the family, are we?” Callie whispers as Arizona walks past her toward the furniture where most people are sitting.
“I can’t help it,” Arizona replies and takes a seat on the couch where Callie’s grandma motions for her to sit. Callie sits across from her girlfriend on another couch next to a little girl who quickly latches onto her. She has dark brown ringlets, big green eyes, and can’t be more than 4 years old. Arizona’s mind doesn’t waste time wandering to a reoccurring daydream involving a mini-Callie like the one across from her.
“Cutie, isn’t she?”
Calliope’s voice breaks Arizona’s thoughts and she quickly responds with an eager nod, unable to take her eyes off of the site across from her.
“You know, little Kayla over there looks just like Calliope did when she was a little girl,” Callie’s grandmother continues. “Such a sweet little girl she was. Always getting into trouble with her sister though. Boy, did they spend a lot of time in time out.”
Calliope continues reminiscing as she watches Callie tickle her little cousin until she starts gasping for air.
“So dear, what kind of doctor are you?” Calliope asks.
“I am head of pediatric surgery,” Arizona states proudly, but modestly in the way only she can.
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Callie’s grandma squeals in delight. “And where are you from?”
“Well originally I’m from Ohio, but my family moved around a lot when I was little. My father was in the Marines,” Arizona explains proudly again. She catches the twinkle in Callie’s eyes from across the coffee table as she watches her talk so comfortably with her grandmother. “That’s actually why I’m not with them for the holidays,” Arizona explains, shooting Callie a quick glance before continuing the lie. “They’re still traveling a lot and travel plans just didn’t work out.”
“Well, we’re glad to have you,” Calliope answers as Callie’s mother takes a seat next to her daughter. “Any friend of our Callie’s is a friend of ours.”
“Speaking of friends,” an older woman around Callie’s mom’s age sits on a third couch beside them. She’s quickly followed by two more older women that sit down next to her. “Any new boyfriends we should know about?”
Callie lets out a half-hearted, nervous laugh as she helps her cousin off of the couch. “Nope…noooo boyfriends for me,” she groans, knowing what’s about to come. “How about you Aunt Clara? Any new husbands since the last time I saw you?”
“Oh no dear, none that I know of anyways,” Clara responds, patting her niece on the knee. “But come on…there’s nobody you’re dating? No more cute little interns you’ll be running off to Vegas with anytime soon?”
“Oh Clara, give it a rest. It isn’t like you haven’t been married five times already,” one of Callie’s other aunts jumps to her niece’s defense. “Besides, if our little Callie was dating anyone we would know about it. You can read this girl like a book; don’t let her fool you, Arizona. She tries to be all tough and badass, but deep down she’s a softie,” her aunt continues, smiling brightly at Callie.
“What was that one boy’s name that she dated in high school? Tom, was it?” Clara ignores her sister’s confession.
“Oh my god,” Callie groans in embarrassment and rolls her head on her neck so it’s resting on the back of the couch.
“No, no I think it was Tyler? Right?” the third woman corrects her sister.
“No, Sara, it was definitely Tom,” Clara laughs away her sister’s response. “He was a cutie, he was. You two were so adorable before prom. Remember when he tried to kiss her on the cheek and was so nervous he ended up kissing her ear? Remember that Callie?”
“Mhmm,” Callie groans, bringing her head off of the couch and letting her pleading eyes land on her girlfriend across from her. Arizona scrunches her nose playfully and gives a loving, encouraging smile.
“He was a gentleman, though,” Sara continues. “You need to find someone like him again, Callie. Why no boyfriend, dear? Is it because of your hair?”
“Oh my god I’m getting a haircut as soon as I get home,” Callie announces to the ceiling. “And his name was Michael, but you guys were real close with those guesses.”
“Michael! That was it!” Sara yelps, snapping her fingers in disappointment at her own guess.
“There must be some cute doctors you work with, aren’t there? Arizona, dear, how about you? Any boyfriends or prospects for yourself?” Clara asks, reaching forward to sip from her drink on the table.
“Anybody need drinks?” a younger boy interrupts.
“Yes!” Callie shouts enthusiastically. “Please…yes. I’ll help you. Arizona, would you like to help also?”
Arizona follows Callie to the mini bar in the corner of the room after politely excusing herself from the conversation. She giggles when Callie lifts a bottle of vodka to her mouth and downs the small amount of liquid remaining at the bottom.
“Well they’re fun,” Arizona interrupts Callie’s solo drinking party with her perky statement.
“God, they’re like vultures just…circling their pray ready to pounce on me at any-did you hear them? Always asking me about boyfriends and talking about embarrassing stories. They’re like…like…” Callie whines and searches for the right description.
“Family,” Arizona finishes her sentence. “They’re your family. They’re supposed to ask you about your love life and tell stories about how cute you were and all their funny memories of you.”
“Can’t you just hate them, for me? For me…please?” Callie protests the good nature of her girlfriend.
“Fine I hate them. They’re awful, horrible human beings,” Arizona groans in defeat, pouring herself a glass of wine.
Callie gazes in astonishment and grabs Arizona’s forearm. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me,” she informs Arizona, squeezing her arm gently.
Arizona smiles over the top of her glass as she takes a sip; just as she’s lowering her drink, a group of four younger guys make their way toward the two of them.
“Hey Callie,” a boy with frighteningly similar features to Callie’s interrupts the two of them.
“Hey Ben,” Callie replies, waiting for him to continue the conversation. Instead of speaking up, he motions towards Arizona with his eyes; it takes Callie a few seconds before she understands and rolls her eyes.
“Arizona these are my cousins Ben, Aaron, Nicholas, and Jake,” Callie says, waving her hand towards each of them respectively. “This is Arizona.”
“Hi there,” the blonde replies to the introduction with a dimpled grin. She watches Callie shake her head out of the corner of her eye, but ignores her.
“Arizona…that’s a sick name,” Aaron says in astonishment.
“Thank you,” she responds as Callie tips back a shot of liquor next to her.
“Kind of like your eyes,” Ben mumbles bluntly, his eyes conveying how nervous he is. “Your eyes are pretty, I mean-“
“Oookay,” Callie interrupts, grabbing Arizona’s wrist in one hand and her glass in the other. “We’re gonna go back with the big kids now. See you guys later.”
“Nice meeting you,” Arizona laughs and chokes on her drink when Callie suddenly tugs her forward and leads her back to the couches scattered with various aunts and uncles as well as Callie’s parents and grandmother.
Callie lets go of Arizona’s hand just as they’re about to reach their seats. Plopping down next to her mother, Callie takes another sip of her drink and scoots over to make room for Arizona. Instinctively reaching over to grab Arizona’s hand, she quickly covers her move and taps her uncle who is sitting on a chair beside them. She starts up a light conversation, hoping to cover her tracks well enough. Arizona just catches Callie’s grandmother lingering on the two of them for a moment before turning back to her daughters.
“So, Callie, how is work going?” one of Callie’s other uncles asks from across the room.
“It’s great,” Callie answers. “My cartilage research just got picked up for publishing, actually.”
“That’s great, dear,” Callie’s grandmother cuts in. “How about you, Arizona? Any interesting surgeries that stick out in your mind?”
“Actually, Calliope mentioned you got a lot of money donated to the hospital a while ago, Arizona. $25 million wasn’t it?” Callie’s mother answers for her.
Arizona’s audience gasps in amazement when Christina drops the donation amount. Callie can’t control the proud smile that breaks across her lips as her girlfriend blushes from the sudden spotlight.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal, really,” Arizona mumbles sadly, trying to sound polite. Callie’s the only one that notices the slight change in her tone; she knows Arizona would have gladly lost the $25 million if it meant saving Wallace’s life. She waits for the conversation to switch back to one of her aunt’s embarrassing stories before dropping her hand so her pinkie finger just touches the knee of Arizona’s leg. Rubbing the spot softly for a few seconds, she feels the shoulders next to her free themselves of the tension. Arizona grazes her hand over the top of Callie’s as she raises her glass to her lips again, letting her know she’s okay. To everyone around them it’s nothing but innocent accidents, but to them…the tiny, loving gestures define their relationship.
A relationship that Callie is more than ready to expose.