Where do we go from here?
“Over a little bit” Callie stood, hands on hips looking very authoritative bossing Mark around as he hung a giant banner saying HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY SOFIA!
“Come on Cal. It’s her fourth birthday, not her wedding. That’s good enough. Let’s get the balloons up” Mark jumps down off the ladder, much to Callie’s chagrin.
“I am well aware that it’s not her wedding Mark, but my parents are coming and I just want it to be perfect. Sofia deserves for it to be perfect” Mark could tell that Callie was nervous about her parents coming to Sofia’s birthday party. They hadn’t been to her first, second or third birthday, in fact Callie’s mother had only been to visit Sofia four times in her whole life.
They hadn’t actually planned on having a big birthday this year at all. At least they hadn’t until Callie’s mother had called to notify them that she and Callie’s father would be making an appearance this year. The original plan was to take Sofia and a few of her playgroup friends to the petting zoo. That was Arizona’s idea of course
Mark’s recent purchase of a four-bedroom house with a big backyard and a pool provided the perfect venue for the big ideas Callie was dreaming up for the occasion. He had purchased the house a few months ago because he felt that it was the next step in the “Mark Sloan Man-whore Makeover”.
“They aren’t going to love her any more or any less depending on whether the banner is centered or not Callie” Mark was becoming frustrated with his best friends antics. Co-parenting with someone as neurotic as Calliope Torres wasn’t as easy as he had originally thought it would be, luckily for him he usually had a perky blonde buffer. Although lately that hadn’t been very true, his buffer has become more of a wedge.
Mark had never really gotten along with Arizona particularly well and they fought more often than not but the three of them were determined to make this dysfunctional family work. There had been numerous hiccups in their set up over the years and they still had a lot of things to work out between them, but at the end of the day they all loved one raven haired, fiery four year old.
“How about you blow up the balloons and let me worry about my parents” Callie cut him off. She was stressed and wasn’t in the mood to be lectured. Mark being a man who valued his manhood decided it was best not to mess with the hot-tempered Latina.
“Where the hell is Arizona? A little of her hot air would be come in handy right about now” Mark was trying to lighten the mood but Callie wasn’t getting any lighter.
“You two better not start today. I’m serious Mark. Not today” Callie sighed. She really didn’t feel like listening to Mark and Arizona bicker over everything today.
It was hard for Callie to stay neutral; she wasn’t as objective as Arizona was. The blonde was able to look at the situation and give her own opinion while still being supportive of Callie. Callie however, found herself incapable of doing that. She always felt like she had to chose either the father of her child or the mother of her child, unfortunately for Arizona Callie’s parenting style often had her siding with Mark. They just seemed to agree more.
“Alright I’ll behave I swear. What time is she getting here?” Mark decided not to acknowledge the fact that Callie was talking to him as if he were a child.
“She’s bringing Sofia at two o’clock. So we have an hour and forty five minutes to get the rest of this done” the orthopedic surgeon replied before rushing off to fuss around frantically in the kitchen.
Mark simply shook his head and started on the one hundred animal shaped balloons Callie had insisted on.
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Today was a big day for Arizona. The daughter she never knew she wanted was turning four years old. The blonde was feeling more than a little retrospective today. It wasn’t just about Sofia getting older; it was the fact that she would be spending the afternoon with Callie’s parents. Callie’s mother was not exactly Arizona’s biggest fan and it was going to be hard for the pediatric surgeon to watch her mother in law fawn over Mark.
She found herself getting angry at the simple thought of it, until she looked into the back seat of her Land Rover and saw the sweetest little face in the world. Only it wasn’t a happy to be going to her fourth birthday party face, it was the face that tore Arizona’s heart into pieces every time she saw it.
“Sofia, what’s wrong?” Arizona asked her daughter who was sitting in her car seat with her little arms folded across her chest and her angelic face scrunched up into the cutest little pout Arizona had ever seen. It was amazing how much the little girl looked like Callie at times, she didn’t look much at all like her father but she did have his incredible charm.
“I want to go to the petting zoo for my birthday” Sofia complained to her mother.
“I know sweetheart but your abuela has come to see you for your birthday and your momma thought it would be best to have the party at daddy’s house” Arizona sighed. She wasn’t too happy about the party being changed to suit Callie’s parents either but there wasn’t anything she could do at this point and she wanted her little girl to have fun at her birthday party.
“What’s so special about this birthday? She never came to my other birthdays. I’m four, nothing special about that is there?” Arizona wanted to agree with the four year old but knew that she needed to defuse the little girl’s attitude before they got to the party or Callie would blow a fuse.
“Every birthday that you have is special Sofia” Arizona knew that her daughter was going to see straight through her, she really needed to come up with some better answers or she was going to be out smarted by a four year old.
“Mommy you don’t even like birthdays. I heard you telling Momma that you didn’t want a party for your birthday and since it’s your birthday you should be allowed to do whatever you want. It’s my birthday and I want to go to the petting zoo” Arizona had absolutely no come back for her daughter’s statements. The child was right.
“Look Sofia, it’s important to your momma that this party goes well okay? So we are going to show up, smile and pretend to have a good time and we’ll go to the petting zoo next week. Okay?” Arizona put her stern mother voice on and Sofia rolled her eyes and reluctantly agreed.
“Fine”
“Great. The party isn’t going to be that bad. Taylor’s mommy called yesterday and said that they are going to be there” Arizona was trying to cheer her daughter up by telling her that her best friend would be at her party.
“Really?” Sofia’s eyes lit up at the thought of being able to play with her best friend. She had been sad that Taylor had originally not been able to come but this was definitely great news.
“Yep. Plus, Daddy’s pool was finished this week so you will be able to go swimming” Arizona added.
“Did you tell Taylor’s mommy to bring their swim suits?” Sofia was starting to warm up to the party at daddy’s house idea, much to Arizona’s relief.
“Of course I did you silly goose” Arizona winked at Sofia through the rear view mirror and her heart soared when the little girl giggled.
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Mark threw himself on the couch. He was exhausted. Setting up for a four year olds birthday had been much harder than he had thought it would be, but as he scanned the room and his eyes settled on a picture of his little princess he knew that it would all be worth it when he saw her excited little face.
“What are you doing? You know Callie’s going to kill you if she sees you right?” Cristina walked casually into the living room holding a beer in each hand, she hands one to Mark.
“Oh she’s busy showing her parents around the house, I’ve got at least 3.5 minutes to relax” Mark replied sarcastically causing Cristina to snort back a little of her laughter.
Most of Callie, Arizona and Mark’s friends had already arrived. They were now waiting on the birthday girl and her friends, who should all be arriving any minute now.
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“Okay, do you remember what we talked about?” Arizona bent down to eye level with Sofia as they stood out the front of Mark’s lavish new house.
“No pouting, say thank you for my gifts and tell momma I love my party” Sofia rattle off a list of things they had gone over in the car.
“And? You’re missing one” Arizona teased.
“Have fun!” Sofia yelled as she threw her arms around Arizona’s neck.
“That’s it baby. Have lots and lots of fun” the pair shared a quick embrace.
“I love you mommy” Sofia kissed her mother on the cheek before running to the door and swinging it open. Sofia certainly liked to make an entrance.
“There she is! There’s my grand daughter, the birthday girl” Callie’s father was the first to notice Sofia enter the house. The little girl ran to him and gave him a hug.
“Hello Sofia. Happy birthday” Lucia Torres greeted the birthday girl. Sofia looked to Arizona who simply gave the child a look that meant business.
“Hi. Thank you for coming to my party” Sofia replied robotically.
“If it isn’t the birthday girl. Nice of you to show up, but the party is almost over” Mark made his way into the foyer area where everyone had congregated.
“Whatever dad, my friends aren’t even here yet” Sofia had a giant grin on her face as she reached her arms out for her father to take her from her grandfather’s arms.
Mark continued to tease the child about the party being over as Callie approached Arizona who was grinning as she watched the pair argue back and forth.
“Oh you’re here. Good” Callie was clearly stressed out and Arizona couldn’t help but think it was cute.
“Yeah. Are we late? I was sure you said two o ‘ clock” Arizona was hoping to God that she wasn’t. The last thing she wanted to do today was upset Callie.
“Yeah I did. You’re perfectly on time” Callie smiled at Arizona awkwardly.
“Great. You look beautiful” Arizona had taken her eyes away from Sofia and finally settled them on Callie only to have her breath taken away by how gorgeous she was.
“Thanks, the dress is new. You like?” Callie tilted her head to the side and gave a little flirty smile that caused Arizona’s heart to race.
“I like very much” Arizona replied but before she could say anything else Mark wrapped his arms around her shoulder, interrupting their moment.
“Have you seen the cake yet?” Mark asked the blonde excitedly. Usually Arizona would be mad at him for interrupting them but she knew that he was just excited about showing his little girl off to everyone. She sighed, shook her head and allowed him to lead her toward the kitchen
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“I thought we decided on the Umi Zoomi cake?” Arizona turned to Callie as she took at look at the cake that Mark was holding for her to have a look at.
“We did but when we went to pay for it Mark thought the Dora looked so much like Sofia, you know he just had to get it” Callie laughed it off as if it was no big deal, but to Arizona it was a big deal. The blonde also knew that it was going to be a big deal to Sofia.
“Look at it. How much does it look like Sofia?” Mark really had no idea sometimes. Luckily for him Sofia entered the kitchen before Arizona could reply.
“Mommy look Taylor is here!” Sofia screamed as she tugged on Arizona’s hand.
“Hey there T-bird, you made it” Arizona bent down to kiss the shy little boy on the head.
Callie’s attention was now on the two children, who were holding hands. The brunette was shocked to see that Taylor was a boy. She had never met the kids that Sofia played with at her weekly play group because Arizona always took care of taking their daughter to those types of things, but she for some reason had assumed that the Taylor her daughter was always talking about would be a little girl. She was obviously very wrong.
“Momma this is my best friend Taylor. This is my momma and that’s my daddy” Sofia did some quick introductions before dragging the blonde haired boy away from her parents and out the back door to the pool area where the other guests had began to gather.
“I better go help them get their swim suits on” Arizona said before disappearing.
“Did you know that Taylor was a boy?” Callie asked Mark.
“I never really thought about it. Does it matter?” Mark asked casually.
“I guess not. Is that his mother?” Callie questioned, shooting a look across the room at a tall brunette chatting to Arizona. The woman didn’t look like what she expected the mothers from play group to look like. She didn’t know what she expected but it certainly wasn’t her.
“Oh I hope so. Wow! If that’s his mother I think I might start taking Sof to play group” Mark couldn’t help but ogle the woman. She was tall and slender, yet she was curvy in all the right places. Her dark hair was shoulder length messy curls. Her jeans clung to her body as if they were painted on and the white button up top was just see-through enough for him to see her green bikini top under it.
“Oh yeah, as if. No way you can hit that. She is way out of your league Sloan” Callie laughed before dashing off to introduce herself.
“Care to put money on that Torres?” Mark yelled after her. She looked back at him and rolled her eyes.
This was going to be interesting.
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“Mommy, Ally watch this” Sofia shouted as she stood at the edge of the pool. Arizona and Ally stopped their conversation and turned their attention to Sofia. They watched as she took a near perfect dive into the water. The child was only four years old but she was an excellent swimmer.
“Good job Sofia. I’d give that one a nine out of ten” Ally praised the girl.
“Really? You think so mommy?” Sofia turned to Arizona for confirmation of her great dive.
“Oh definitely. You’re getting better every day. I’m so proud of you baby” Arizona winked.
“I think we have a champion swimmer on our hands, what do you think Robbins? You think I should take her to the underwater world?” Mark appeared behind Sofia. He snatched her up into his arms causing Sofia to scream and giggle. She knew what was coming and this was one of her favorite games.
“No daddy! No! Taylor help me! Mommy! Momma!” Sofia squealed. He loosened his grip long enough to allow Sofia to pinch her nose and take a deep breath before he wrapped his arms around his little girl and launched the pair of them into the water.
It was clear that Mark was showing off. It was something he did when he was in a group of people. His goal had been achieved because everyone in the vicinity turned their attention to the pair in the pool, all of them smiled at the sweetness of a father playing and laughing with his little girl.
“Can you do that with me Arizona?” a tiny voice came from beside Arizona and when she turned to look she saw Taylor staring at her with his shy smile and big blue eyes. Arizona gave a quick questioning look to Ally before answering him; she received a nod and a smile from the green-eyed beauty.
“Sure thing buddy” Arizona’s dimples popped as she whisked the boy up into her arms and bolted towards the pool, throwing herself into the pool still holding the boy tightly in her arms.
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A few hours later Mark, Arizona and Sofia were all still playing in the pool. They were racing, playing shoulder wars, taking dives and rating each other. Callie was watching them from the back doorway. She felt that the party had gone really well. Her parents and everyone else that attended had left with smiles on their faces.
The only thing Callie wasn’t impressed with was the twinge of jealousy that had hit her as she watched Arizona and Ally messing about in the pool. She had never met Taylor’s mother before, she didn’t know much about her or what to expect but she didn’t expect her to be quite so beautiful. She knew she was probably being stupid, but for some reason she couldn’t get thoughts of Ally and Arizona being so chummy out of her head.
The brunette must have been daydreaming for a long time because she hadn’t even noticed everyone get out of the pool. Her daughter tugging on her hand jerked her out of her daydream.
“Let’s go home momma, I’m tired” Callie looked down at the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen. It was clear that Sofia was worn out, her little eyes were red from all the swimming and a pout was starting to form on her beautiful features.
“Are you ready to go sweetie?” Callie asked, although she was certain that her daughter was in fact ready to go since she was dressed and toting her Umi Zoomi backpack.
“Yes. Can we go now? Daddy’s already gone to sleep on the couch” Sofia whined.
“Okay honey let’s go” Callie took Sofia’s backpack from her, locked the back door and proceeded through the house. They didn’t bother saying goodbye to Mark as he was snoring loudly on the couch.
As the exited the house Callie noticed Arizona packing Callie’s car with all of Sofia’s presents.
“I could have come back for everything tomorrow” Callie smiled as she saw how out of breath Arizona was from packing the large items into the vehicle. Sofia was one very spoiled four year old.
“It’s okay. Best to get it all out of the way now. Plus I wanted her to be able to play with her new toys when she wakes up in the morning” Arizona reasoned.
“That’s true. Well come on Sof let’s get you home to bed. Give Mommy a hug” Callie gestured toward Arizona who had a solemn look on her face.
“Can’t Mommy come with us? If you don’t want her to sleep in your bed she can sleep in my bed with me” Sofia was getting upset now. Callie didn’t know what to say to her little girl. She didn’t know what was the best way to explain the situation. Luckily for her Arizona spoke up first.
“I can’t tonight sweetie. I have to go back to my house but I will pick you up from daycare tomorrow for your swimming lesson okay?” this was certainly the hardest part of her and Callie’s separation; she hated to say goodbye to her daughter every night.
“Why? Why don’t you want to live with us anymore? Is it because momma yells at you? She won’t do it anymore, will you momma? Tell her” Sofia was begging.
“Sofia…” Arizona was speechless.
“It’s okay. Go, I’ll handle this” Callie swept Sofia up into her arms and began strapping the child into her car. The raven-haired child was screaming and reaching out for Arizona.
“Bye baby. I love you” Arizona was choking up. She had to get out of there before Sofia saw her getting upset. The blonde jumped in her car and sped off down the road. She was now sobbing uncontrollably. She had to pull of to the side of the road a few streets away because she couldn’t see through the tears that were pouring from her eyes.
How did she get to this place? Four years ago she was getting married and starting a family. Where does she go from here?