Orphan Grey (3/?)
AN: Sorry for the delay, but thank you for your interest! I’m hoping to be able to update more often from here on out. (And maybe I’ll even get back to Crossing Borderlines…)
Chapter 3
Callie was pacing outside Bailey’s genome mapping lab for the third time in as many days. It wasn’t that she didn’t want answers; she undoubtedly did. But there was a larger part of her that wanted this whole clone thing to go away - far, far away. As far as she was concerned, the less she knew, the less involved she’d become…theoretically.
But her entire life had changed as soon as she had set foot into the Archfield Hotel and the answers to many of the questions swimming around in her head could be in those small little dishes.
As Callie placed a hand on the door to Bailey’s lab, her heart was racing. It wasn’t just her she had to think about. She had a family, friends, a job. And she had the beginnings of what could be the romance of her lifetime.
It was her experiences over the last three days that made her desire for answers increase to the point where she knew that just walking away and never looking back was not an option.
o0o0o0o
“You wanna get out of here?”
With great effort, Arizona remained stoic, pretending that Callie’s question did not have her heart racing and her palms sweating. Sure, getting in bed with Calliope Torres had been her ultimate goal, but it hadn’t been the goal for the evening. But now Callie was turning the tables and Arizona needed to catch up. She knew she should say no. She should take her time with Callie, romance her, get to know her. But Callie was looking at her so hungrily, so willingly, that no could not possible be her answer.
“More than anything,” she answered honestly, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in deeply.
Callie slammed a few bills on the table, clearly overpaying for their drinks, before grabbing Arizona’s hand and leading her out the front door. With her other hand, Callie dug in her purse for her keys, and released a frustrated groan when Arizona stopped, yanking her back in the process.
“You’re not driving, are you? Because, you’ve had quite a bit to drink, and I - ”
Callie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled. Keys in hand, she pointed to a high-rise across the street. “That’s my apartment building. These are my house keys. I know that as soon as I get you into a private, confined space like an elevator, there will be no stopping me, so I thought I’d be prepared. You don’t want me to take you in the hallway, do you?”
Arizona’s eyes widened with realization. This was actually happening. She knew that just moments before she had agreed to it, but their flirting had escalated so quickly that there was no chance to process the events.
“Um, no. That’s, uh, that’s good thinking.”
Callie nodded, a self-satisfied smile creeping across her face. She tugged Arizona’s hand and the two made the short distance to Callie’s apartment in silence.
It was Arizona who made the first move in the elevator. Callie calmly pressed the button to the fifth floor and turned to face the front. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Arizona had Callie pushed against the back wall, pressing sloppy kisses against Callie’s lips, chin, and neck. She made quick work of Callie’s jacket, and was tugging off the second sleeve when the doors opened and Callie shuffled them out of the elevator and quickly through the door to the apartment, not bothering to check whether Cristina Yang, her roommate, was home.
o0o0o0o
o0o0o0o
“You’re still here,” Callie observed, walking into her kitchen clad only in a pair of underwear and an over-sized t-shirt. “And you’re rifling through my fridge.”
“Mmmhmm,” came Arizona’s muffled response, her head tucked between two shelves in the fridge as she searched for something. Callie took the time to observe Arizona’s toned legs, muscles bulging from underneath Callie’s gym shorts that she had apparently borrowed from Callie’s drawer that morning.
Evidently finding what she was looking for, Arizona released a cheerful “aha!” before extracting herself from the fridge, a pleased smile on her face. She combed her fingers through her mussed hair and waved the carton of eggs with her other. “Why the hell are your eggs in the back of the bottom shelf? That makes no sense.”
Shaking her head, Callie asked, “And why do you need my eggs?”
“I’m making French toast!”
Taking a seat on a bar stool, Callie prepared to watch Arizona, enjoying the surprising domestic turn her supposed-to-be-one-night-stand had taken. “I bet you do this for all the girls.”
“Just the ones I really like,” Arizona replied quickly. Taking a break from cracking eggs into a bowl, Arizona turned. “Look, I, uh, didn’t mean for last night to go the way it did.” Noticing Callie’s grimace, Arizona quickly amended her statement. “Not that I didn’t enjoy it immensely. I did. It’s just that I like you. And, if you’re willing, I’d like to take you on a real date.”
Callie got off the stool and made her way around the bar, grabbing the bottle of cinnamon on her way. Sprinkling a bit of cinnamon into the bowl of eggs, Callie placed a hand on the small of Arizona’s back and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. “I’d like that.”
“Yeah? Because you seemed all gung-ho for a one-night stand last night.”
Callie pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks, releasing a whistle of air. “My life…my life is crazy and kind of complicated, or at least it just got more complicated. And last night, I just wanted to forget. But, I woke up this morning realizing that last night was the one not complicated thing to happen to me in a while. I’d really like that to continue.”
“Good. Good!” Arizona grinned, her dimples shining as she turned back to the French toast. “I have a ridiculous surgical schedule this week, but how does Friday at 8 sound?”
“It’s a date,” Callie responded, lowing her gaze shyly, before looking back up with a resplendent grin of her own.
o0o0o0o
It was on the second day of stalking Bailey and fidgeting outside her lab that Callie realized she really needed to pay a phone call to her parents. Her mom had freaking birthed her. She had a sister. She looked like them. If she were truly a petri dish experiment, how the hell did they all fit in?
So, with a sense of both frustration and relief, she walked away from Bailey’s lab and found the nearest on-call room. Taking her iPhone out of her pocket, she quickly hit the “2” button, followed by the “call” button before she could lose her nerve.
It rang four times and Callie had just about lost her nerve. Pulling the phone away from her ear, her thumb hovered over the “end” button, just when she heard the unmistakable sound of her father’s charmingly raspy voice.
“Hello?”
She released a puff of air and brought the phone back to her ear. “Hey, Daddy,” she said hesitantly.
“Mi’ja, it’s so lovely to hear from you!”
“I know it’s not Sunday,” Callie began, before being cut off by Carlos’s throaty laugh.
“Is there ever a time I’m not thrilled to speak to my daughter?”
Callie had to join in her father’s incredulous laughter. In that instant, her nerves and anxiety fled away. This was her father. Her adoring, kind, proud father. No matter what she learned of her biology, that fact would never change.
“Good point.”
“I assume, however, this isn’t just a call to say hi?” He paused, but before Callie could answer, he jumped in gleefully. “Oh, is there a new man…or woman,” he added courteously, “in your life?”
“Well, maybe, and I’m not sure if it’s anything yet, but you’ll be the first to know if it becomes anything, but that’s not why I called.”
“Then what is it, mi’ja?” he asked, sensing her nerves for the first time.
“I have an odd question for you.” Taking a deep breath, she dove in, “was there anything…unusual about my birth…or mom’s pregnancy?”
“No, not really,” Carlos answered. “Well, we had some trouble conceiving, but you knew that.”
“Um, no, actually I didn’t. I knew Mom had problems conceiving Aria, but I didn’t realize she had the same problems with me.”
“Oh, well, I guess we thought it was irrelevant. But after about a year of trying, it was determined that your mother had an inhospitable uterus, and we conceived you through IVF.” When Callie fell silent, Carlos added, “Callie, you know as well as I do there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, god no,” Callie responded quickly. “Of course there isn’t.”
“Callie, what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you yet, Dad. Not because I don’t want to, but because I truly don’t know.”
“I’m not going to push you, Callie. But I am your father. And my wife is your mother. No matter what.”
Callie let out a shuddering breath. “I know, Daddy. I would never question that.”
“I love you, darling.”
“I love you, too, Dad. More than anything.”
o0o0o0o
Callie thought back to her experiences over the past week. Without knowing what was going on, Carlos had reaffirmed his unwavering love for her.
And as for Arizona? Callie smiled at the thought. Arizona could be something. But not until Callie sorted out her suddenly chaotic life.
And so, with a halting breath and a quickening heartbeat, Callie opened the door to the genome lab.
Chapter 3
Callie was pacing outside Bailey’s genome mapping lab for the third time in as many days. It wasn’t that she didn’t want answers; she undoubtedly did. But there was a larger part of her that wanted this whole clone thing to go away - far, far away. As far as she was concerned, the less she knew, the less involved she’d become…theoretically.
But her entire life had changed as soon as she had set foot into the Archfield Hotel and the answers to many of the questions swimming around in her head could be in those small little dishes.
As Callie placed a hand on the door to Bailey’s lab, her heart was racing. It wasn’t just her she had to think about. She had a family, friends, a job. And she had the beginnings of what could be the romance of her lifetime.
It was her experiences over the last three days that made her desire for answers increase to the point where she knew that just walking away and never looking back was not an option.
o0o0o0o
“You wanna get out of here?”
With great effort, Arizona remained stoic, pretending that Callie’s question did not have her heart racing and her palms sweating. Sure, getting in bed with Calliope Torres had been her ultimate goal, but it hadn’t been the goal for the evening. But now Callie was turning the tables and Arizona needed to catch up. She knew she should say no. She should take her time with Callie, romance her, get to know her. But Callie was looking at her so hungrily, so willingly, that no could not possible be her answer.
“More than anything,” she answered honestly, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in deeply.
Callie slammed a few bills on the table, clearly overpaying for their drinks, before grabbing Arizona’s hand and leading her out the front door. With her other hand, Callie dug in her purse for her keys, and released a frustrated groan when Arizona stopped, yanking her back in the process.
“You’re not driving, are you? Because, you’ve had quite a bit to drink, and I - ”
Callie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled. Keys in hand, she pointed to a high-rise across the street. “That’s my apartment building. These are my house keys. I know that as soon as I get you into a private, confined space like an elevator, there will be no stopping me, so I thought I’d be prepared. You don’t want me to take you in the hallway, do you?”
Arizona’s eyes widened with realization. This was actually happening. She knew that just moments before she had agreed to it, but their flirting had escalated so quickly that there was no chance to process the events.
“Um, no. That’s, uh, that’s good thinking.”
Callie nodded, a self-satisfied smile creeping across her face. She tugged Arizona’s hand and the two made the short distance to Callie’s apartment in silence.
It was Arizona who made the first move in the elevator. Callie calmly pressed the button to the fifth floor and turned to face the front. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Arizona had Callie pushed against the back wall, pressing sloppy kisses against Callie’s lips, chin, and neck. She made quick work of Callie’s jacket, and was tugging off the second sleeve when the doors opened and Callie shuffled them out of the elevator and quickly through the door to the apartment, not bothering to check whether Cristina Yang, her roommate, was home.
o0o0o0o
o0o0o0o
“You’re still here,” Callie observed, walking into her kitchen clad only in a pair of underwear and an over-sized t-shirt. “And you’re rifling through my fridge.”
“Mmmhmm,” came Arizona’s muffled response, her head tucked between two shelves in the fridge as she searched for something. Callie took the time to observe Arizona’s toned legs, muscles bulging from underneath Callie’s gym shorts that she had apparently borrowed from Callie’s drawer that morning.
Evidently finding what she was looking for, Arizona released a cheerful “aha!” before extracting herself from the fridge, a pleased smile on her face. She combed her fingers through her mussed hair and waved the carton of eggs with her other. “Why the hell are your eggs in the back of the bottom shelf? That makes no sense.”
Shaking her head, Callie asked, “And why do you need my eggs?”
“I’m making French toast!”
Taking a seat on a bar stool, Callie prepared to watch Arizona, enjoying the surprising domestic turn her supposed-to-be-one-night-stand had taken. “I bet you do this for all the girls.”
“Just the ones I really like,” Arizona replied quickly. Taking a break from cracking eggs into a bowl, Arizona turned. “Look, I, uh, didn’t mean for last night to go the way it did.” Noticing Callie’s grimace, Arizona quickly amended her statement. “Not that I didn’t enjoy it immensely. I did. It’s just that I like you. And, if you’re willing, I’d like to take you on a real date.”
Callie got off the stool and made her way around the bar, grabbing the bottle of cinnamon on her way. Sprinkling a bit of cinnamon into the bowl of eggs, Callie placed a hand on the small of Arizona’s back and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. “I’d like that.”
“Yeah? Because you seemed all gung-ho for a one-night stand last night.”
Callie pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks, releasing a whistle of air. “My life…my life is crazy and kind of complicated, or at least it just got more complicated. And last night, I just wanted to forget. But, I woke up this morning realizing that last night was the one not complicated thing to happen to me in a while. I’d really like that to continue.”
“Good. Good!” Arizona grinned, her dimples shining as she turned back to the French toast. “I have a ridiculous surgical schedule this week, but how does Friday at 8 sound?”
“It’s a date,” Callie responded, lowing her gaze shyly, before looking back up with a resplendent grin of her own.
o0o0o0o
It was on the second day of stalking Bailey and fidgeting outside her lab that Callie realized she really needed to pay a phone call to her parents. Her mom had freaking birthed her. She had a sister. She looked like them. If she were truly a petri dish experiment, how the hell did they all fit in?
So, with a sense of both frustration and relief, she walked away from Bailey’s lab and found the nearest on-call room. Taking her iPhone out of her pocket, she quickly hit the “2” button, followed by the “call” button before she could lose her nerve.
It rang four times and Callie had just about lost her nerve. Pulling the phone away from her ear, her thumb hovered over the “end” button, just when she heard the unmistakable sound of her father’s charmingly raspy voice.
“Hello?”
She released a puff of air and brought the phone back to her ear. “Hey, Daddy,” she said hesitantly.
“Mi’ja, it’s so lovely to hear from you!”
“I know it’s not Sunday,” Callie began, before being cut off by Carlos’s throaty laugh.
“Is there ever a time I’m not thrilled to speak to my daughter?”
Callie had to join in her father’s incredulous laughter. In that instant, her nerves and anxiety fled away. This was her father. Her adoring, kind, proud father. No matter what she learned of her biology, that fact would never change.
“Good point.”
“I assume, however, this isn’t just a call to say hi?” He paused, but before Callie could answer, he jumped in gleefully. “Oh, is there a new man…or woman,” he added courteously, “in your life?”
“Well, maybe, and I’m not sure if it’s anything yet, but you’ll be the first to know if it becomes anything, but that’s not why I called.”
“Then what is it, mi’ja?” he asked, sensing her nerves for the first time.
“I have an odd question for you.” Taking a deep breath, she dove in, “was there anything…unusual about my birth…or mom’s pregnancy?”
“No, not really,” Carlos answered. “Well, we had some trouble conceiving, but you knew that.”
“Um, no, actually I didn’t. I knew Mom had problems conceiving Aria, but I didn’t realize she had the same problems with me.”
“Oh, well, I guess we thought it was irrelevant. But after about a year of trying, it was determined that your mother had an inhospitable uterus, and we conceived you through IVF.” When Callie fell silent, Carlos added, “Callie, you know as well as I do there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, god no,” Callie responded quickly. “Of course there isn’t.”
“Callie, what’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you yet, Dad. Not because I don’t want to, but because I truly don’t know.”
“I’m not going to push you, Callie. But I am your father. And my wife is your mother. No matter what.”
Callie let out a shuddering breath. “I know, Daddy. I would never question that.”
“I love you, darling.”
“I love you, too, Dad. More than anything.”
o0o0o0o
Callie thought back to her experiences over the past week. Without knowing what was going on, Carlos had reaffirmed his unwavering love for her.
And as for Arizona? Callie smiled at the thought. Arizona could be something. But not until Callie sorted out her suddenly chaotic life.
And so, with a halting breath and a quickening heartbeat, Callie opened the door to the genome lab.