Halloween 2011 (C/A_LJ Halloween contest entry)
Title: Halloween 2011
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye kye9
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Arizona/Callie, Mark, Sofia, Bailey, Alex, Cristina
Disclaimer
Summary: Sofia’s first Halloween is marked by three over-enthusiastic parents, one of whom has a major surprise planned for the other.
[Prompt for callie_arizona Halloween Challenge: Callie and Arizona take baby Sofia trick-or-treating.]
A/N: The editing on this was less than stellar, because I ran out of time. (Working up to 1 minute before the deadline.) It shouldn't be too bad, though. Apologies for missed mistakes.
---
Callie stood in front of the bathroom mirror putting the finishing touches on her make-up for the evening. Black was the general theme of her costume, as the scariest of witches always seemed to lean toward the gothic and creepy. Her eyes were strategically darkened to give off what she hoped was a ‘mysterious and sexy’ vibe; a vibe that was topped off with touch of crimson red lipstick she’d picked up earlier that week in preparation for Halloween. Her fingernails were curved and long tonight, completely artificial and painted black to go with the rest of her outfit. She wore a short-but-not-too-short black dress that would be paired with a shawl before they left the house, and some lengthy black boots with heels to kill for. The whole ensemble hugged her curves perfectly and, if she did say so herself, she looked pretty damn hot.
Screw the facial warts and crooked teeth. She wasn’t a slutty which, she was a sexy witch - there was a difference.
Callie took a step back from the mirror and peered at her reflection, satisfied with how it all turned out. She wasn’t really a costume person, but her wife was overly hyped up about Halloween and there was little Callie could do to resist when the woman started throwing those dimples around. Besides, even if Sofia couldn’t remember her first time out, it was an excuse for her three parents to take thousands of pictures and eat the candy they trick-or-treated for themselves.
“Hey, babe?” she called over her shoulder through the open door, picking up the silver cross sitting on the counter and fiddling with the neck clasp. “Is Sof ready yet?”
“Almost!” came the immediate answer. “Don’t move, just give us a minute.”
Callie couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the level of excitement in her partner’s voice. Arizona had insisted on dressing their daughter in her costume by herself, one she’d hand-picked over a month ago - a pumpkin.
It was about as far from original as Callie would’ve liked. Every single parent dressed their baby as a pumpkin the first time around, and it was lame and over-used. But again, she couldn’t tell Arizona no after seeing the excitement gleaming in her eyes and the great big showing of dimples flashed her way. So she’d reluctantly agreed to it, even though she had a hard time picturing how a large, round, orange vegetable could be the ‘Cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I promise’.
Shaking her head, Callie put on the necklace. “Okay. Hurry up, Mark will be here soon.”
Back in the main bedroom, Arizona returned her focus to the infant sprawled on her back in the center of their bed. She couldn’t hold back a squeal of her own as she finished pulling on Sofia’s little green booties, because they really made the whole costume that much more perfect.
The smiling baby was warm and snuggly in a puffy, bright orange fleece pumpkin outfit, with a silly face sewn into the front and a green stem-and-leaf hat sitting on top of her head, carefully tied in place. She looked perplexed as to why her mother was stuffing her into the most ridiculous looking thing she’d ever seen in her six-and-a-half months of life.
Arizona was already dying from the cute overload. She was well aware how she’d become one of those annoying, doting moms that thought their baby was the best baby of all - but she was totally right in this case. Sofia was amazing and no one should really expect her to be able to resist a Mini Torres in the first place.
For her own costume, Arizona had gone a different way - the pirate way, literally speaking. While it wasn’t exactly a ‘conventional’ pirate costume - ripped skinny jeans, knee-high sandy brown boots, a scoop-neck white and brown horizontally striped t-shirt, with a thick brown belt around her waist and tons of gold ‘bling’ on her neck and hands - it was as good as it was going to get. She wanted to have fun and look good for her woman in the process.
Besides, she had an eye patch and a pirate hat with a skull and crossbones on it. That was all one really needed to make the costume obvious enough. Plus it was more comfortable (and suitable) to wear at work than her costume the year before - Wonderwoman.
Arizona never went out looking less than awesome.
“Oh, sweetie, I could just eat you up,” she gushed, scooping Sofia into her arms. She proceeded to plant about a million kisses all over the baby’s cheeks, ignoring the squeak of protest, and hugged her closely as she balanced the little girl on her hip. The costume was puffy and round like a real pumpkin, so it was warm and super squishy.
“Let’s go show Mommy,” she whispered, adjusting Sofia before walking into the bathroom. “Calliope, be prepared for a giant ‘I told you so’ and feast your eyes on the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”
Callie snorted, her gaze cast downwards as she stuffed make-up back into her cosmetics bag. “Uh-huh,” she grunted noncommittally, turning away from the mirror. She wasn’t expecting to be super impressed, given how cliché and stupid a pumpkin outfit was going to-
“Aww, look at her!” Callie gushed, rushing over to where Arizona was holding baby Sofia just outside the doorway, hardly able to contain her excitement. She had no trouble admitting she was wrong, because Arizona really hadn’t been kidding - even Callie’s sexy and badass exterior tonight was easily shattered by the sight of her little girl in her very first Halloween costume.
Sofia was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. Blinking those identical brown eyes back up at her mother’s, Sofia’s little green hat really just topped off the whole thing.
“Oh, my baby girl,” Callie cooed, tears burning behind her eyes. “You are just so cute, I could die.”
Sofia looked up and grinned a toothless grin at her mother, sucking on her tiny fist.
Callie felt her heart melt as she tore her eyes away to look up and meet Arizona’s mischievous gaze shining back at her. “I take back everything I made fun of you for. You did really good.”
Arizona beamed and accepted a small apology kiss. “Arr, I be a smart one,” she said in what was supposed to be her best pirate voice. Judging by the way Callie was looking at her as though she was married to a giant nerd, it didn’t go over as well as she’d hoped.
Still, Arizona remained unfazed. “I don’t half-ass Halloween,” she chuckled, kissing Sofia’s cheek again and gently passing her over to her Madre. “If my kid is going as a pumpkin, she’s going to blow all the other pumpkins out of the water. Right, sweetie?”
Sofia blew a spit bubble, then nuzzled into the crook of Callie’s shoulder, clutching to the front of her dress.
It was Arizona’s turn to eye up the fine woman in front of her, making no effort to hide her glowing approval. “I have to say, you do a pretty darn good job of Halloween-ing yourself, Mrs. Torres. Meow.” She couldn’t help but paw at the silky material of the plunging neckline showing off the perfect amount of skin. Callie looked hot.
“Easy there, matey,” Callie teased, getting her own stare-down in while she still could. Arizona might look like a ‘pirate’ that was about to walk down some fancy runway, but authentic or not, Callie liked what she saw. Sexy pirate trumped toothless, smelly and scraggly any day.
“Is Mark here yet?” she asked, turning her attention back to the baby before her mutual ogling session with Arizona got them both into trouble. Sofia clung to the silver chain around her neck, giving it a small tug and gurgle of approval.
“Should be any minute,” Arizona replied, leaving the bathroom with Callie trailing behind her. She headed for the bed and picked up the remaining pieces of her own costume, pulling on the eye patch first, followed by the dark brown hat.
Turning around, she struck a pose for her two girls. “What do you ladies think? Pirate-y enough for one night?”
Sofia took one look at the eye patch and burst into tears.
Callie couldn’t help but laugh at the dejection written all over Arizona’s face, bouncing Sofia in her arms and trying to calm her. “Aww, baby girl, it’s okay,” she soothed, running a hand along her back. Sofia whimpered and squirmed in her mother’s arms.
“I don’t think she’s a fan. But I’m diggin’ the whole ensemble you’ve got going for you,” Callie smirked, sweeping her eyes over the finished product. She’d really love for Arizona to ‘plunder her booty’ right about now, though she kept that to herself with Sofia in the room.
Pouting, Arizona took off the hat and removed the eye patch. “This wasn’t supposed to be scary, it was supposed to be unique and super fun.”
“I highly doubt pirates looked that good back when they were sinking ships and robbing the British empire,” Callie pointed out.
Tossing the eye patch back on the bed, Arizona fixed the hat back in place and carefully took Sofia from Callie, trying to soothe her and show her how un-scary Mama was. “It’s just me, cutie pie. Just your dear old Mama. Don’t be scared.” She kissed Sofia’s cheek, relieved when the crying died down to a soft whimper.
“Oh, hey, I guess I shouldn’t be making pie references around you right now, huh?” Arizona giggled incessantly at her own dorky little joke.
Callie rolled her eyes but still found herself laughing. Arizona was without a doubt a big kid with a huge heart and a goofy sense of humor - it’s why she loved her so much.
Stepping up to Arizona’s side, she rested her chin on her shoulder, gazing down at their tiny human with adoration in her eyes. “I love you,” she murmured, kissing the dip of Arizona’s neck. “Sofia is lucky to have you.”
Arizona smiled warmly, leaning into Callie and glancing back over her shoulder. “I’m crazy about my girls,” she replied, winking once before smothering Sofia with another kiss. “Both my beautiful witch of a wife and our adorable little variety of squash.”
There was a knock on the apartment door, signaling Mark’s arrival. Shifting Sofia over to Callie, Arizona headed in that direction. “Don’t let him see her just yet, he needs to be prepared for the cuteness or it’ll be too much for him to handle.”
With a little skip in her step, Arizona grinned widely and dashed into the main room, jogging to the entrance and yanking open the front door. “Are you ready to have your mind blown-”
She stopped talking and blinked at the figure on the other side, beginning to frown. “You were supposed to dress up.”
Mark looked down at himself. “I did,” he stated, then peeled back his lips to reveal vampire fangs. He wore a tight black sweater, faded jeans, a grey trenchcoat with the collar flipped up around his neck, and the most ridiculously messy hairstyle Arizona had ever seen.
While she was busy giving him the stink-eye, Mark was taking a moment to check her out, too.
Robbins looked hot as a fake pirate.
Arizona was used to Mark’s boob-staring glazed look, so she had no trouble ignoring him as she scrutinized his outfit and tried to place where she’d seen it before. There were a lot of ‘modern’ vampires floating around pop culture these days, and the Dracula look was really a thing of the past. She wasn’t particularly into that HBO drama Callie watched weekly, but maybe it was something like-
It smacked her square in the face not a moment later and she let out a loud bark of laughter, immediately covering her mouth with a hand to stop any more sound from coming out.
“What?” Mark asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
“Oh my God, you’re Edward Cullen,” Arizona giggled, trying and failing to keep it together. It was too hard, because the realization that Mark Sloan had somehow dressed himself as a ‘Twilight’ character cracked her the hell up.
If only she had her iPhone on her. Teddy would love this.
“Who?” Mark asked again, still totally lost. “What’s an Edward?” When all he received in return was more giggling, he shook his head and pushed by her into the apartment.
Robbins might’ve been really hot, but sometimes she was just flat-out strange.
Callie appeared with Sofia in her arms, drawing his attention away as Arizona closed the door behind him. He broke out into a giant smile upon seeing their daughter all snug in her bright orange costume.
“Look at you,” he said quietly, his voice taking on that soft quality it tended to when addressing his kid. “Daddy’s little pumpkin, that’s what you are.” He plucked Sofia from Callie’s arms and held her high in the air, fussing over how perfect she was.
Arizona had stopped laughing by now, though she did make a mental note to grab a glitter stick on the way out of the apartment. She was pretty sure there were leftovers somewhere from the supplies she’d used to decorate the Peds ward earlier that week.
Callie looked curious as she shuffled over to Arizona’s side, linking arms with her and tilting her head in Mark’s direction. After five or six seconds, her brow ticked and she opened her mouth to speak.
Arizona leaned in and whispered directly into her ear. “He has no idea.”
A mischievous grin plastered itself across Callie’s face.
Arizona smiled to herself, brushing her nose against her wife’s ear before raising her voice back to normal levels. “You can both admit it now - I’m a genius. Our daughter just became ten times more adorable than any of us ever thought she could possibly be.” Considering Sofia was already at the top of the adorable-squee scale, that was saying something.
For once, Mark had no arguments with Arizona’s statement. “Our kid is better than other kids,” he stated, to which both mothers nodded in agreement.
Arizona took a moment to study her wife’s outfit, now that the lengthy boots were on and the lacy shawl was draped across her shoulders. She planted a lingering kiss on the side of Callie’s mouth, smiling. “And you, pretty lady, win the award for Hottest Costume tonight. Witches are more my type than sparkly vampires; sorry, Mark.”
Mark chose to ignore the jab as he settled Sofia in his arms, smiling as she grabbed the collar of his jacket. “Your Mama is just trying to ruin Daddy’s night, yes she is,” he cooed. Sofia shoved her other fingers into her mouth, giggling as he made a funny face. He turned to throw back a smartass remark of his own, only to catch a lengthy glimpse of Callie and Arizona sharing a lingering, intimate kiss.
Okay, so he was totally respectful of their relationship and staring wasn’t usually his thing - meaning he liked his balls right where they were - but he was only human. A guy human at that, so…he stared. Just a little.
Arizona was a little too absorbed in the slow kiss to even remember Mark existed, let alone was present and watching them. They’d both been insanely busy this week and it had been a few days since she’d been able to bask like this. She was a lucky, lucky woman to be married to Calliope Torres, and she quite enjoyed reminding herself of that fact when the opportunity arose.
Pulling back finally and looking more than a little hazy, Arizona flashed Callie a goofy smile. “Mmm. Shiver me timbers, m’lady. I’ll be walkin’ your plank later tonight.”
Callie rolled her eyes, laughing as she nudged the blonde playfully in the side. “I don’t even know what that’s a euphemism for, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be the one doing all the shivering.”
Mark tried and failed to stifle a quiet whimper as he made a point of turning away and bouncing Sofia in his arms. “Your mommies are mean, yes they are.”
Snickering, Arizona stole one last kiss from Callie before stepping away to gather her things. “We should get going, anyway. I promised Bailey we’d stop by the hospital before driving out to Woodward so she can see Sof in her costume.”
“Why do we have to drive to Woodward?” Callie whined. “It’s too far and apartment trick-or-treating is warmer.”
Arizona shared a brief look with Mark, then focused back on her wife. “It’s not far, it’s only one neighborhood over. And it’s not really trick-or-treating if we stay inside. Plus, it’s pretty warm out for October 31st.”
“C’mon, Torres,” Mark piped up, clapping a hand on her back and passing her the baby. “Man up. I want to take my girl here for some candy.”
Callie relented and waited for Arizona and Mark to grab the treat bag and all other necessary supplies, opting to carry Sofia in her arms for now and keep a bjorn handy for later.
“We’re not meeting up with that woman you met at Joe’s the other night, are we?” Arizona asked, fishing for the keys in her bag as they stood outside the apartment door.
Mark gave her a blank look. “Who?”
Arizona quirked an eyebrow as she locked up behind them. “Y’know, when we went out for drinks last week after work and you played darts for like two hours with her.”
When he continued to pretend he had no idea who she was talking about, Arizona sighed impatiently. “The one that…how do I put this delicately - you were firing your cannon into her porthole?”
Mark looked horrified and Callie nearly choked. “I did not!” he shot back, glowering at the blonde as they headed for the elevator. “Jesus, Robbins, we’ve only met up for drinks once since then. And that was it.”
Callie had to laugh as she tugged Arizona along before she could throw in her rebuttal. “Come along, children. You two can pull each other’s hair after we take our daughter out for candy.”
Arizona flashed Mark a smug grin as the steel doors closed behind them. “Whatever. I just don’t want one of the twenty-two-year-olds you’re boinking to crash Sofia’s first Halloween, that’s all.”
Callie elbowed her in the side, harder this time. “Play nice.”
“Arr.”
“Enough with the pirate talk, Arizona.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.”
***
Once they arrived at the hospital, Callie insisted on scurrying upstairs to check her messages, which left Arizona and Mark alone with Sofia by the main desk. Arizona plopped their daughter up onto the edge of the counter, keeping a firm hold so she didn’t fall while Mark readjusted the little green hat.
“She’s gonna grow up here,” the blonde mused, smiling when Sofia made a face. “You think it’ll make her want to become a surgeon, too? Or choose something the exact opposite, like a rocket scientist?”
“Well, she’s obviously already a genius,” Mark boasted with a wide grin, straightening out Sofia’s costume.
The little girl looked down and instantly became mesmerized by the funny black face painted onto the front of it. She pulled at it with her tiny fingers and made the same concentrative expression Callie always used when deeply absorbed in something.
Mark tilted his head. “That doesn’t count.”
Arizona watched Sofia with a loving smile. “She’s got plenty of time to grow into her genius-ness,” she agreed.
“With her DNA, it’s inevitable,” Mark added proudly. He quickly glanced at Arizona out of the corner of his eye, realizing his mistake. “I didn’t mean-”
“I know,” Arizona interjected, avoiding his gaze and focusing on Sofia. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it, though sometimes the reminder of Sofia not really being hers stung.
“She’s got three smart parents, she’ll be the most well-rounded kid anyone has ever known,” Mark added truthfully, tugging lightly on the green hat. “And with you and Torres in the same house, she’ll have no trouble learning to process her feelings out loud, over and over again.”
Arizona snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
A beat of silence passed while they both gazed at their daughter, who did nothing more than sit there staring back at them.
“I’m sorry about before,” Arizona said, glancing over at Mark. “I wasn’t trying to be an ass- er, a meanie.”
Mark quirked an eyebrow.
Arizona sighed and situated Sofia on her hip again, gently swaying in place. “I know it’s none of my business what or…who you do in your spare time, but you deserve better than a string of one-night-stands, Mark. You’re a good guy and an amazing dad, and any woman looking to settle down would be lucky to have you. Sof wants you to be happy, and so do Callie and I.”
Mark look just as surprised at the admission as Arizona felt giving it. She chewed on her bottom lip, hesitating when it came to over-stepping her bounds. “And if that woman isn’t meant to be Lexie, then she’s still out there. Little Grey isn’t the end of the line, even if it feels like it some days.”
Mark glanced away and clammed up, doing his best to keep all thoughts about Lexie Grey out of his mind. Tonight was supposed to be about his daughter’s first Halloween and he didn’t want anything to ruin it; least of all stupid emotions over something he couldn’t change.
Finally, he managed a soft smile and focused back on Arizona. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Robbins,” he replied. “Maybe it’s not a surprise Torres married you after all.”
Arizona rolled her eyes and chuckled, patting her hand over Sofia’s back.
Another brief hesitation, and Mark actually managed a quiet, “Thanks, Arizona,” looking embarrassed at the same time.
She blinked at him in surprise. “I don’t think you’ve ever called me by my first name before,” she mused as he grinned lopsidedly. “At the rate things were going, I was half expecting Sof to say ‘Blondie’ before ‘Mama’.”
“Don’t count that out,” Mark countered, smirking. “Still, Torres is lucky to have you. So is Mini Torres.”
Sofia picked at the clunky gold chains and necklaces hanging around Arizona’s neck, chewing on one thoughtfully and gazing up at her daddy with wide brown eyes. Arizona ducked her head down to nuzzle the top of Sofia’s head. “I’m the lucky one,” she murmured.
Before either one of them could get too awkward about the deeper direction the conversation had turned, someone called out “Robbins!” from the end of the hallway and Arizona looked up to see Karev headed their way.
Karev in a black-and-white striped prisoners uniform, complete with the dorky hat and a ball and chain around his ankle.
Arizona’s brow skyrocketed. “Seriously? I tell you to dress up for the kids tonight and this is what you choose?”
Alex simply grinned and gave one of his signature half shrugs, dumping a pile of peds charts onto the desk. He looked from his boss to Mark, tilting his head and slowly dropping his smile. “Dude. Edward? Seriously?”
Mark stood up a little taller, glancing down at himself and then glaring hard at Alex. “Shut it, Karev,” he growled. He still didn’t know what an ‘Edward’ was despite Arizona’s half-assed attempts to explain it to him. He was a freaking vampire, and a damn sexy one at that.
“Where the hell is Torres?” he barked, suddenly feeling vastly outnumbered as Arizona began to laugh at him again.
Sofia reached out a clenched fist toward Alex, still gumming her mother’s necklaces. She’d taken a liking to him early on, which didn’t surprise Arizona too much, given how he’d been Stark’s right-hand man during the nearly four months she’d stayed in the NICU.
Despite his gruff exterior, Arizona could easily see the warmth in Alex’s eyes as he reached out to bump his fist with Sofia’s tiny one. Sofia immediately tried to grab onto one of his fingers.
“See, Sof?” Arizona said casually, bouncing her daughter on her hip. “Uncle Alex thinks your Mama’s a slave driver. But come Tuesday morning, he’ll get a real taste of what it’s like to be under Captain Robbins’ thumb. Arr, indeed. He’ll be walkin’ the plank and scrubbin’ the deck before noon!”
Sofia giggled at Arizona’s funny voice. Mark and Alex just stared at her.
Arizona scoffed. “Oh, shove it. Neither of you have a sense of humor.”
Sofia’s attention wandered, looking beyond Karev as more people approached from down the hall. As they got closer, she dropped the gold necklace and started to squirm, releasing a string of non-coherent babbles.
Callie called out in a sing-song, grinning at the recognition in her baby girl’s features. She was followed by Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang, the latter of which looked extremely bored and disinterested in baby talk.
“Hey there, mija,” Callie cooed, accepting her daughter from her wife and snuggling their baby pumpkin in her arms. She figured she should enjoy the mommy love while it lasted, knowing that sooner or later they’d have a hormonal teenager on their hands that hated her parents.
“Torres,” Bailey warned, cocking an eyebrow at the taller woman. “You just hand that baby right over here; stop being so stingy. You can hold her whenever you want.” She extended her arms expectantly.
Callie pouted but immediately transferred Sofia to Bailey without question. “Baby snatcher,” she grumbled.
Sofia clung to the collar on Miranda’s white labcoat, tugging on it with a look of pure concentration on her face. Bailey chuckled as she fussed over her. “I love this stage, they’re so cute when they first start to notice things. Aren’t you, sweetheart? Smart as your mommies and your daddy already, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Yeah, you are, look at those bright eyes. You already know what’s goin’ on around you, don’t you? Don’t-”
She became very aware of all five people staring at her in silent disbelief. She arched a sharp eyebrow and snapped, “What?”
All eyes averted themselves.
Cristina took a moment to study Mark with a growing frown. “Why are you dressed like that tweeny vampire sensation?”
“I am not!” he growled again, ignoring Callie, Arizona and Alex’s snickering.
“How do you know about it?” Cristina shot at Alex. “Reading the books on your breaks?”
He scowled. “I work in peds, moron. I’m getting Bieber and ‘Twilight’ shoved down my throat on a daily basis. Believe me, I wish I didn’t have a clue.”
“Just be happy you don’t know what literature today has been reduced to,” Arizona said to Mark. She was on board with Alex; they kept the kids happy and would converse about their favourite topics, but if she had to listen to another pro-Twilight rant or hear another Bieber song, she would kill herself.
Cristina, whose Halloween costume consisted of a nametag that read ‘Hi, my name is Meredith’, reached out to tug on the orange fleece of Sofia’s costume. “What happened to a mini G.I. Joe?” she asked Callie. “Isn’t ‘pumpkin’ a little cliché?”
Sofia flinched away from Yang and gave her an unimpressed, almost frightened stare. When Cristina tried to touch her again, she erupted into a loud cry, squirming in Bailey’s arms and trying to get away.
Bailey turned Sofia away from her, glowering at the resident. “Yang, what have I told you about scaring small children?”
“What?” Cristina shot back, exasperated. “I didn’t even do anything! I just looked at her.”
“Well, don’t,” Callie cut in, though she looked amused. It was a little funny how Sofia was terrified of her God mother most days.
Cristina rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in the air. “Fine. I give up. Keep your baby spit to yourself.” She turned and stalked away in the direction they’d come from.
Miranda fixed Callie with a pointed glare. “That’s what you get when you make a robot your baby’s God mother instead of choosing Dr. Bailey.”
Arizona watched the exchange with amusement, though she checked her watch several times and shot Mark a worried look. “We need to get moving if we’re going to be on time,” she whispered, leaning closer to him. Mark nodded and started pulling on his coat again.
“Think we can steal our tiny human back?” Arizona asked Bailey, looping an arm through Callie’s. “We need to get going. We’re headed to Woodward to trick-or-treat and don’t want pumpkin girl here getting sleepy before we arrive.”
“You’re really taking a baby out for something she’s too young to recognize?” Bailey asked, looking skeptical.
“Why not?” Mark said, shrugging. “It’s not like the candy is gonna go to waste.”
Bailey continued her patented stare down of all three parents. “So you’re planning on stealing candy from a baby?”
Arizona shared a brief look with Callie before reluctantly turning back to their more intimidating colleague. “Well, she’s…our baby, so…”
“Oh, so you’re stealing candy from your own baby, that’s much better.”
None of them had an answer to that.
Bailey shook her head, handed Sofia off to Arizona, then snatched up the pile of charts Alex had dropped earlier. “I expect a dozen Kit Kats by morning or you’ll all be cleaning bed pans.” She didn’t leave room for objections, brushing by the three of them without another word.
“Why do I get the impression she thinks we’re bad parents?” Callie asked no one in particular.
“She can’t make us clean bedpans,” Arizona added with a scoff. “We’re Attendings. I was almost her boss once.”
“She’s Bailey,” Alex pointed out. “She can make you do anything she wants you to.”
Arizona glanced over at Mark but his attention was focused elsewhere. She followed his line of sight and saw Lexie down the hall with Avery, talking to another doctor. His hand was wrapped around her lower back and they both wore what she assumed to be Romeo and Juliet costumes.
Her heart went out to him. She couldn’t even fathom watching Calliope be happy with another woman. Even though she’d tried to encourage him to move on earlier, she knew how it felt to love someone and not be with them. At least she’d been lucky enough to fix things with Callie before it had become too late. A big part of her hoped that in the end the same would work out for Mark and Lexie.
“Hey, Sof, how about you give your daddy a hug, hm?” Arizona played with their daughter’s tiny hand, smiling when big brown eyes blinked up at her from under the green cap. If anything could make him feel better, she knew Sofia would in a heart beat.
Mark tore his gaze away from Lexie and saw Sofia stretch her arms out toward him as Arizona gently eased her over. He hoisted her up, one arm supporting underneath the baby and the other splayed safely across her back. Small fingers clutched the material of his shirt, and a toothless grin succeeded in lifting his spirits.
“Thanks, Robbins,” he said quietly, watching Sofia chew on the fabric.
Callie leaned in and placed a soft kiss against the underside of Arizona’s jaw. “You’re awesome,” she whispered, earning a contented sigh in return.
“C’mon,” Arizona chuckled, tugging the arm loops through hers. “Baby Girl’s got the attention span of a gnat most days. Let’s show her how cool Halloween is before she gets bored and sleepy.”
Before leaving, she turned her attention to her resident. “Alex, do not let the kids have too much candy, no matter how hard they beg. The ones that turn on the tears are just trying to get to you. If we have a peds ward full of sugar-high tiny humans running around for the next few days, you get to do the babysitting. Are we clear?”
Alex grumbled under his breath, replying with a gruff “whatever,” before shuffling off to finish his evening rounds.
Arizona sighed happily and leaned into Callie as they began walking for the elevator. “I love having minions.”
Callie smirked as she leaned in to plant another teasing kiss just below her wife’s ear. “You’re hot when you’re bossy,” she whispered, resisting the urge to pull the lobe between her teeth and give it a playful tug. She highly doubted Mark or Sofia would appreciate being ditched so she and Arizona could make out in an on-call room.
Mark rolled his eyes and walked ahead, not dense enough to miss the googley eyes being exchanged behind him. “Your mommies are gonna give Daddy a heart attack way before his time,” he sighed to his daughter.
***
The older Seattle neighborhood they wandered through had a lot of character, Callie couldn’t help but notice the further they traveled. The trees were big and beautiful, looking as though they’d been growing for decades, while the majority of the houses were enormous and brand new, replacing the one-story originals that had been built in the nineteen-fifties. She was thoroughly enjoying the adventure of discovering something new - except for the bickering of her two co-parents beside her.
“It’s my turn,” Mark whined as he tried to take Sofia from Arizona. “You got to hold her for the last three houses.”
Arizona shot him a nasty glare and made no move to hand Sofia over. “You got her for the first fifteen minutes!”
Mark whirled to face Callie, crossing his arms. “Torres, tell her it’s my turn again.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “What are you, five?” She looked to her wife as they stopped at the foot of the next driveway, her brow lifting higher. “Do I need to ask you the same question?”
Arizona pouted and hugged Sofia closer. “Just a few more minutes. She’s so cute when people drop candy into the bucket, it’s like she’s trying to figure out where it disappears to. Mark can have her after the next one.”
Sofia tugged on her Mama’s gold necklaces with one hand and reached up to poke her in the nose with the other.
Arizona grinned and ducked her head away. “You don’t want to hang out with the scary vampire, do you? Pirates are way cooler.”
Sofia gummed the necklace to death in answer.
Mark stomped his foot and actually had the nerve to growl at the blonde.
“Arizona,” Callie warned, sighing patiently. “Please just give Sofia to him before he throws a tantrum.”
Reluctantly, Arizona gave in and passed their baby off to Sloan. “Fine. But only because he’s annoying when he’s whiny.”
Despite the jab, Mark grinned as he carried Sofia up to the doorway, leaving the two women at street level.
The same process occurred over the next ten or so houses, and soon enough they were working their way back down the opposite side of the street, in the direction of their parked car. Mark got to take Sofia a little more often than Arizona would’ve liked, but she knew that she and Callie were the ones lucky enough to tuck their baby girl in at the end of the night. It had to be hard on him sometimes.
It was one of the reasons she’d been so nervous about tonight and the surprise she’d been planning for Callie. Going to Mark first had her prepared for a fight, but he’d been surprisingly supportive of the whole thing, even though she knew deep down the idea of a larger distance between him and Sofia had to be terrifying.
Checking her watch, Arizona bit her bottom lip and glanced ahead to the three houses left between them and their target. “How about we skip the next few? They don’t have any lights on and I think Sof’s getting tired.”
“But we only have eight Kit Kat’s,” Callie answered fearfully, rooting through the Halloween bucket they’d been collecting candy in. “A few more houses won’t hurt. Maybe they’ll take requests.”
Sharing another look with Mark, Arizona nodded silently and looped one arm through Callie’s left while Mark did the same on her right. Together they pulled her down the street, catching her by surprise.
“Hey! What’s the big hurry?” She tried and failed to pull herself loose.
“Keep walking,” Mark said with a chuckle. “And close your eyes when Robbins says so.”
“Are you planning to do away with me?” Callie asked suspiciously, earning a playful glare from her wife.
“Hush, woman. And follow my instructions when I say so or you’ll ruin the surprise.”
“And here I was thinking that you were going to be the one getting ‘surprised’ tonight,” Callie said in a low voice so only Arizona could hear.
The blonde blushed and suddenly felt as though her costume was a little too hot and constricting. Her eyes drifted over Callie’s curvy and delicious form, praising her wife’s choice of dress for hitting all of her buttons in one try. She couldn’t help but wonder what Callie was wearing beneath it, remembering two years ago when her partner had put on a sexy little get-up underneath as a kinky surprise.
Mark returned from the latest door holding Sofia, pausing in front of the two women on the driveway and frowning. “How come she gets to stare openly at your chest and I don’t?”
Arizona snapped back to reality, drawing her eyes away from where she’d been accidentally ogling her wife’s cleavage. “What? I was not!”
Callie laughed, finding Arizona incredibly endearing when she was flustered. “She’s my wife, idiot. She can stare any time she wants. You, on the other hand, are just the ‘baby daddy’. No boob privileges for you.”
“Exactly,” Arizona agreed, shooting Mark a dirty look. “My boobs to stare at, not yours.”
Snorting, Mark shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t seen bef-” He stopped talking as laser beams practically shot out of Arizona’s eyes and incinerated him on the spot.
Callie hurriedly tugged her partner down the driveway before an all-out war could break out between them. Mark sighed to himself and looked at his daughter. “Daddy’s an idiot, yes he is,” he mumbled before following along.
Shrugging off the urge to pummel Mark into oblivion, Arizona skipped the next two houses and glanced sideways at Callie. “Close your eyes, baby. Please.”
Fidgeting with excitement, Callie did so and let Arizona guide her steps. “Don’t walk me into a lamp post, or you’ll be sleeping alone for a week.”
“Never in a million years,” Arizona laughed. She waited until she had Callie standing on the driveway of one of the bigger houses on the block, then stopped in place. “Okay. Open.”
Callie did so, blinking a few time and looking around. She found herself standing in front of a three-car garage and some fancy landscaping lining the driveway. “Er…okay. What am I supposed to be looking at?”
Mark shifted the baby in his arms and carried her a short distance away, giving them some privacy.
Arizona took a deep breath and stepped around to face Callie head on. “Okay, so here’s the thing - we have a baby now.”
Callie waited patiently for more, but after a few seconds of silence, she grew even more confused. “Okay,” she repeated slowly. “I am aware of that fact. I was kinda there when it happened.”
Arizona shook her head, knowing she was being stupid for letting her nerves get the better of her. It’s not like Callie was going to clobber her over the head for this or anything.
She hoped.
“What I mean is, we have a baby now. And I imagine in the future - the far future, once Sofia’s a bit older and our timing is better, we might have more. And I love the apartment we’re in, I do, the location is great and Mark’s across the hall and it’s got all of these other great qualities. But it doesn’t have that much space, and Sofia is growing like a weed these days. Like a really cute, adorable, fantastic garden vegetable, actually.”
Callie smiled, tilting her head and waiting for her wife to continue.
Licking her lips, Arizona took a small step closer to Callie and took both of her hands. “All I wanted growing up was a great big back yard to play in. Sometimes Tim and I got lucky when we moved and we’d have a small space outside, but nothing permanent enough for jungle gyms, o-or puppies or sandboxes. And I really want Sofia to have all that, so…”
She glanced over her shoulder at the house. “This place doesn’t go on the market for another two days, but a friend of mine let me take a look at it last week and I think it’s perfect. I didn’t buy it or anything,” she quickly added, before Callie actually did kill her. “I just talked with a realtor about options and I definitely think we could do it.”
Arizona took only the briefest of seconds to suck in a much-needed breath before continuing, wanting to get this all out before Callie had a chance to reply. She started rummaging madly around her purse for the brochures she was positive she’d brought with her. “There a-are great schools nearby, it’s still only a fifteen minute drive from work, twenty on a bad day; the house has five bedrooms and a beautiful décor I think you’d love. The crime rate has been super low for the last decade or so and it’s a really family friendly neighborhood. Lot’s of younger families, which probably means Sofia will have friends to play with as she gets older.”
Callie was too stunned to reply right away, so she just stood there taking in the house and Arizona’s frantic explanation.
“Honey,” she called softly after a moment, reaching out to stop Arizona’s frantic digging spree through her bag. When blue eyes finally looked up, wide and slightly fearful, Callie simply smiled and tugged on her partner’s wrist, turning her hand over to intertwine their fingers. “I love it.”
Arizona visibly relaxed. “Oh thank God.”
Laughing, Callie pulled her into a light kiss. “I love that you put this much thought into it and how you’re always putting our baby girl first. I love you for being so awesome.”
Her smile faded just a tiny bit after a second, and she looked hesitant to say what came next. “It’s just, I mean…Mark, h-he’s across the hall, and with Sofia, I don’t…” She trailed off, just knowing from the sagging of Arizona’s shoulders that this was not coming out right at all.
“Don’t, Torres,” Mark spoke up, stepping forward again with Sofia dozing lightly on his shoulder. “You’re still really close and I can come over all the time to see my girl. I’m not saying it won’t suck without you three right across the hall, but Sofia deserves a big house with a backyard. I think she’d love it here.”
“Are you sure?” Callie asked tentatively, loving the idea of owning a big home with her wife more and more by the second. She just hated knowing Mark would be farther away from their daughter, especially these days with how lonely he seemed.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Mark confirmed with a warm smile. “You’ve got a girl you love who loves you back. Move into whatever house she wants.”
Arizona sent Mark a grateful smile. It was a huge relief not to have to fight him on this issue, even though he’d been reluctant when she’d first told him. She figured that was a better solution than blindsiding him tonight when she told Callie. “Do you want to see the inside? I convinced the realtor to hang around until eight, so we’ve got ten minutes before she has to leave.”
“Hell yes,” Callie laughed, embarrassed to find herself holding back tears. That tended to happen a lot more these days, since she’d had Sofia. “Lead the way, Mrs. Robbins.”
Beaming with excitement, Arizona started tugging Callie towards the front door. She paused just before going up the walkway, looking back over her shoulder. “Mark? You coming?”
“Nah,” he answered, waving them along. “I’ll stay here with Tiny Torres. You two lovebirds go ahead.”
Arizona nodded. “We’ll be quick.” With that, she tugged Callie inside.
Mark rubbed a hand over the baby’s back, slowly wandering along the driveway. “What do you think, hm? Should Daddy get a house, too? One that’s bigger and a lot cooler than your moms’?” He smiled when she yawned in response. “Nah, you’re right. Let them have the bigger house for now. When you get older, I’ll buy you a cool car and then you’ll like me better.”
***
“Is that one right there?” Arizona pointed to a red wrapper on the ground. She sat on the floor with her back against the couch, legs stretched out in front of her. Callie relaxed in the same position to the blonde’s right. The baby monitor sat on the cushion behind them, showing Sofia sound asleep in her crib.
“No, that’s a peanut butter cup,” Mark said, sifting through the pile of candy dumped out in front of them. He sat opposite the two women and was busy digging for Kit Kats. None of them wanted to cross Bailey in the morning without a significant stash at the ready. So far they’d found nine out of the needed twelve.
Sighing in frustration, Arizona leaned forward to grab a handful of chocolates and then scooted back against the couch, handing a few over to her wife. “I give up. Go buy some before work tomorrow morning, Mark. She’ll never know the difference.” She unwrapped a mini Twix and popped it in her mouth.
“Me? Why the hell do I have to do it?” Mark opened a box of Goobers and started popping them like pills. “Why can’t you just take a few from the giant stash in the pediatrics ward? I saw the nurses’ station, they had a ton.”
Arizona paused mid-bite to quirk an eyebrow in Mark’s direction. “Really? You want to steal candy from sick, dying children? Is that what you’re saying?”
Mark shrugged unapologetically. “You really want Bailey demoting us to bedpan duty? She’ll find a way to do it, I know she still.”
Callie twirled an Oh Henry between her fingers, pondering the lesser of two evils. “Steal from the tiny humans,” she said to Arizona after a moment, biting into the chocolate bar. She crossed her feet at the ankles and relaxed back against the couch again.
Mark sprawled out on his left side, absently digging for more candy. “Y’know, this’ll probably be the only year we get to do this. If she’s got a sweet tooth anything like the two of you, we’ll be lucky if Sofia throws us so much as an empty wrapper once in a while.”
Arizona glanced sideways at Callie, nudging her and nibbling on another small piece of chocolate. “I’d be more worried about this one here. She guilted me into giving her the stash of German chocolates my mom mailed me last week. It’s the eyes and the boobs; I have no willpower of my own when she uses them against me.”
“What are you lookin’ at me for?” Callie shot back. “You’re the one that ate an entire tub of frozen yogurt three days ag-”
Arizona clamped a hand over Callie’s mouth, turning red. “He gets the point, sweetie.”
Mark smirked and popped a Gobstopper into his mouth. “I get the boob thing,” he replied casually, “but I still didn’t think there was anything that could get you to give up chocolate, Robbins.”
Arizona narrowed her eyes. “Watch it, Sloan,” she warned, “and keep your filthy man eyes off my wife’s cleavage. We’ve already had this conversation once tonight.”
“What? I’m just saying I agree with you,” Mark added. “She’s got great boobs, and the woman knows how to use them.”
“Somehow I’m pretty sure I’ve had this conversation backwards before,” Callie said idly, though neither of them paid any attention.
“Yes, she does, but that doesn’t mean you get to say it out loud,” Arizona argued, leaning forward to snatch the unwrapped chocolate bar out of Mark’s hand. “My wife. Keep your eyes to themselves.”
“It’s not like I can control what I look at, Robbins.”
“Then I’m offering to purchase you blinders.”
“For what it’s worth, he was too busy staring at your ass tonight to ogle my ladies,” Callie pointed out, picking absently at a Snickers wrapper. “Why do you think he kept walking behind you?”
Arizona’s eyes widened and she blushed furiously. “What? Mark!”
Mark remained unfazed, shrugging unapologetically. “Torres has a great rack, you’ve got a great ass. Just the way it is.” He knew he was playing with fire here, but he blamed the sugar rush coursing through his system. Plus riling up Robbins was too much of a favourite past time to give it up now.
Callie giggled when Arizona huffed and crossed her arms. “You do, babe. It’s a really, really nice butt.”
Despite her crankiness with Sloan, Arizona couldn’t help but sweep her eyes over Callie’s tempting form one more time. She was unable to hide the sexy smirk that began to appear. “I’m not the only one with nice…‘assets’,” she pointed out in a low voice.
Mark looked away and shook his head. Sometimes he wondered why the universe had to torture him with two hot women as his co-parents.
He really, really needed to start having sex again. Before he died of frustration.
“Please tell me that behind that OCD-reflex and cranky, bossy personality is a dirty, naughty little pirate just waiting to be let out,” he called over the candy pile, staring at Callie and trying to gauge her reaction to the inaudible whispers Arizona was currently murmuring into her ear.
Looking a little flushed herself, Callie reached into the small pile of candy on her lap and tossed a Milky Way at Mark. It hit him squarely in the forehead and landed in front of him, where he abruptly tore open the wrapper and stuffed it into his mouth.
The laughter than ensued was interrupted by Sofia’s soft cries echoing over the baby monitor and through the small opening of the nursery door. Mark immediately jumped up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’ve got her,” he said, jumping over Arizona’s legs and just barely avoiding a kick aimed at his ass as he jogged over to the nursery.
Callie shook her head, still blushing from the naughty words whispered into her ear. “You really shouldn’t tease him like that, Arizona,” she chastised with a soft laugh. “He’s sexually impaired at the moment and it’s really not helping.”
“So?” Arizona countered. “How is that my problem?” She stole Callie’s Snickers and unwrapped it, then reached over to her other side to grab some of the house brochures. “How great was that crown molding throughout the main floor and master bedroom? You don’t see stuff like that very often.”
Callie, who already loved the house and didn’t need any more convincing, slid a hand up her wife’s thigh and gave it a hard squeeze. She leaned over the short distance and took a bite out of the Snickers in the blonde’s right hand, freezing her in her tracks.
Licking her lips, Arizona gently placed the house papers down again and slowly turned to look her wife in the eye. “Do you have any idea what pirates like me do to naughty witches like you?” she murmured suggestively. She turned her body more to face the brunette and slowly slid a hand up her torso towards her perfect breasts.
Callie caught the blonde by the wrist, chuckling as she eased the searching fingers away. “I’m sure you’re going to show me after Mark leaves and Sofia’s down for the night.” She wanted zero interruptions guaranteed before she lost herself in stripping Arizona of her pirate costume, piece by piece.
Stealing a secretive glance towards Sofia’s nursery, Arizona took the opportunity to lean in and pull Callie into a deeper kiss than before. When the woman tried to pull away, she tangled her fingers into dark hair and gave her a rough tug forward.
Mark was busy. They had a minute or two.
Callie moaned into the kiss and found herself quite out of breath by the time Arizona released her. “Tease..” She tugged on one of Arizona’s necklaces. “As soon as he leaves, you’re mine.”
Arizona whimpered, hating her libido for choosing the most inopportune time for making her want to maul her partner. “Got any ice cubes?” she said with a light laugh, definitely feeling over-heated by this point.
“We can use those, too,” Callie said idly, pretending to pay attention as she leaned forward to dig more candy from the pile.
Mark stepped out of the nursery before Arizona could do much more than stare at Callie with a slackened jaw. “She’s out again,” he said, closing the door behind him and tip toeing back to his previous spot. He sat down, then gauged their current position, looking a little apprehensive. “Anyone up for some freaky movies?”
Arizona caught Callie’s eye and saw her tilt one shoulder slightly, indicating that it was her choice.
Any given day, Arizona would boot his ass clear out of their apartment, no questions asked. But as horny as she was, she reminded herself that Mark would be going home to a depressing and empty apartment with no Lexie and no Sofia to keep him company on a night when friends and family had fun together. That had been her exact same position the previous Christmas, and it wasn’t exactly something she’d ever forget. Even though Halloween wasn’t quite on the same caliber, she sympathized.
Damn it.
Sighing, Arizona smiled in his direction and shrugged. “Nothing too freaky, please. Paranormal Activity nearly put me in an institution.”
“She was clingy for a week,” Callie confirmed.
Arizona wrinkled her nose and ripped open a chip bag, mumbling “Was not,” under her breath.
Mark looked relieved, even though he tried not to show it. “Torres has an awesome collection,” he boasted excitedly, jumping up and scrambling for the DVD case. “We’ll find something.”
Callie watched him go before turning her attention to Arizona, knowing how hard it was for her to make that decision. It was what made her such a wonderful person, putting others well-being before her own. “I love you, you know that?” she said quietly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
Sighing, Arizona smiled back and gave a tiny shrug. “Arr. I do.”
---
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye kye9
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Arizona/Callie, Mark, Sofia, Bailey, Alex, Cristina
Disclaimer
Summary: Sofia’s first Halloween is marked by three over-enthusiastic parents, one of whom has a major surprise planned for the other.
[Prompt for callie_arizona Halloween Challenge: Callie and Arizona take baby Sofia trick-or-treating.]
A/N: The editing on this was less than stellar, because I ran out of time. (Working up to 1 minute before the deadline.) It shouldn't be too bad, though. Apologies for missed mistakes.
---
Callie stood in front of the bathroom mirror putting the finishing touches on her make-up for the evening. Black was the general theme of her costume, as the scariest of witches always seemed to lean toward the gothic and creepy. Her eyes were strategically darkened to give off what she hoped was a ‘mysterious and sexy’ vibe; a vibe that was topped off with touch of crimson red lipstick she’d picked up earlier that week in preparation for Halloween. Her fingernails were curved and long tonight, completely artificial and painted black to go with the rest of her outfit. She wore a short-but-not-too-short black dress that would be paired with a shawl before they left the house, and some lengthy black boots with heels to kill for. The whole ensemble hugged her curves perfectly and, if she did say so herself, she looked pretty damn hot.
Screw the facial warts and crooked teeth. She wasn’t a slutty which, she was a sexy witch - there was a difference.
Callie took a step back from the mirror and peered at her reflection, satisfied with how it all turned out. She wasn’t really a costume person, but her wife was overly hyped up about Halloween and there was little Callie could do to resist when the woman started throwing those dimples around. Besides, even if Sofia couldn’t remember her first time out, it was an excuse for her three parents to take thousands of pictures and eat the candy they trick-or-treated for themselves.
“Hey, babe?” she called over her shoulder through the open door, picking up the silver cross sitting on the counter and fiddling with the neck clasp. “Is Sof ready yet?”
“Almost!” came the immediate answer. “Don’t move, just give us a minute.”
Callie couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the level of excitement in her partner’s voice. Arizona had insisted on dressing their daughter in her costume by herself, one she’d hand-picked over a month ago - a pumpkin.
It was about as far from original as Callie would’ve liked. Every single parent dressed their baby as a pumpkin the first time around, and it was lame and over-used. But again, she couldn’t tell Arizona no after seeing the excitement gleaming in her eyes and the great big showing of dimples flashed her way. So she’d reluctantly agreed to it, even though she had a hard time picturing how a large, round, orange vegetable could be the ‘Cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I promise’.
Shaking her head, Callie put on the necklace. “Okay. Hurry up, Mark will be here soon.”
Back in the main bedroom, Arizona returned her focus to the infant sprawled on her back in the center of their bed. She couldn’t hold back a squeal of her own as she finished pulling on Sofia’s little green booties, because they really made the whole costume that much more perfect.
The smiling baby was warm and snuggly in a puffy, bright orange fleece pumpkin outfit, with a silly face sewn into the front and a green stem-and-leaf hat sitting on top of her head, carefully tied in place. She looked perplexed as to why her mother was stuffing her into the most ridiculous looking thing she’d ever seen in her six-and-a-half months of life.
Arizona was already dying from the cute overload. She was well aware how she’d become one of those annoying, doting moms that thought their baby was the best baby of all - but she was totally right in this case. Sofia was amazing and no one should really expect her to be able to resist a Mini Torres in the first place.
For her own costume, Arizona had gone a different way - the pirate way, literally speaking. While it wasn’t exactly a ‘conventional’ pirate costume - ripped skinny jeans, knee-high sandy brown boots, a scoop-neck white and brown horizontally striped t-shirt, with a thick brown belt around her waist and tons of gold ‘bling’ on her neck and hands - it was as good as it was going to get. She wanted to have fun and look good for her woman in the process.
Besides, she had an eye patch and a pirate hat with a skull and crossbones on it. That was all one really needed to make the costume obvious enough. Plus it was more comfortable (and suitable) to wear at work than her costume the year before - Wonderwoman.
Arizona never went out looking less than awesome.
“Oh, sweetie, I could just eat you up,” she gushed, scooping Sofia into her arms. She proceeded to plant about a million kisses all over the baby’s cheeks, ignoring the squeak of protest, and hugged her closely as she balanced the little girl on her hip. The costume was puffy and round like a real pumpkin, so it was warm and super squishy.
“Let’s go show Mommy,” she whispered, adjusting Sofia before walking into the bathroom. “Calliope, be prepared for a giant ‘I told you so’ and feast your eyes on the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”
Callie snorted, her gaze cast downwards as she stuffed make-up back into her cosmetics bag. “Uh-huh,” she grunted noncommittally, turning away from the mirror. She wasn’t expecting to be super impressed, given how cliché and stupid a pumpkin outfit was going to-
“Aww, look at her!” Callie gushed, rushing over to where Arizona was holding baby Sofia just outside the doorway, hardly able to contain her excitement. She had no trouble admitting she was wrong, because Arizona really hadn’t been kidding - even Callie’s sexy and badass exterior tonight was easily shattered by the sight of her little girl in her very first Halloween costume.
Sofia was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. Blinking those identical brown eyes back up at her mother’s, Sofia’s little green hat really just topped off the whole thing.
“Oh, my baby girl,” Callie cooed, tears burning behind her eyes. “You are just so cute, I could die.”
Sofia looked up and grinned a toothless grin at her mother, sucking on her tiny fist.
Callie felt her heart melt as she tore her eyes away to look up and meet Arizona’s mischievous gaze shining back at her. “I take back everything I made fun of you for. You did really good.”
Arizona beamed and accepted a small apology kiss. “Arr, I be a smart one,” she said in what was supposed to be her best pirate voice. Judging by the way Callie was looking at her as though she was married to a giant nerd, it didn’t go over as well as she’d hoped.
Still, Arizona remained unfazed. “I don’t half-ass Halloween,” she chuckled, kissing Sofia’s cheek again and gently passing her over to her Madre. “If my kid is going as a pumpkin, she’s going to blow all the other pumpkins out of the water. Right, sweetie?”
Sofia blew a spit bubble, then nuzzled into the crook of Callie’s shoulder, clutching to the front of her dress.
It was Arizona’s turn to eye up the fine woman in front of her, making no effort to hide her glowing approval. “I have to say, you do a pretty darn good job of Halloween-ing yourself, Mrs. Torres. Meow.” She couldn’t help but paw at the silky material of the plunging neckline showing off the perfect amount of skin. Callie looked hot.
“Easy there, matey,” Callie teased, getting her own stare-down in while she still could. Arizona might look like a ‘pirate’ that was about to walk down some fancy runway, but authentic or not, Callie liked what she saw. Sexy pirate trumped toothless, smelly and scraggly any day.
“Is Mark here yet?” she asked, turning her attention back to the baby before her mutual ogling session with Arizona got them both into trouble. Sofia clung to the silver chain around her neck, giving it a small tug and gurgle of approval.
“Should be any minute,” Arizona replied, leaving the bathroom with Callie trailing behind her. She headed for the bed and picked up the remaining pieces of her own costume, pulling on the eye patch first, followed by the dark brown hat.
Turning around, she struck a pose for her two girls. “What do you ladies think? Pirate-y enough for one night?”
Sofia took one look at the eye patch and burst into tears.
Callie couldn’t help but laugh at the dejection written all over Arizona’s face, bouncing Sofia in her arms and trying to calm her. “Aww, baby girl, it’s okay,” she soothed, running a hand along her back. Sofia whimpered and squirmed in her mother’s arms.
“I don’t think she’s a fan. But I’m diggin’ the whole ensemble you’ve got going for you,” Callie smirked, sweeping her eyes over the finished product. She’d really love for Arizona to ‘plunder her booty’ right about now, though she kept that to herself with Sofia in the room.
Pouting, Arizona took off the hat and removed the eye patch. “This wasn’t supposed to be scary, it was supposed to be unique and super fun.”
“I highly doubt pirates looked that good back when they were sinking ships and robbing the British empire,” Callie pointed out.
Tossing the eye patch back on the bed, Arizona fixed the hat back in place and carefully took Sofia from Callie, trying to soothe her and show her how un-scary Mama was. “It’s just me, cutie pie. Just your dear old Mama. Don’t be scared.” She kissed Sofia’s cheek, relieved when the crying died down to a soft whimper.
“Oh, hey, I guess I shouldn’t be making pie references around you right now, huh?” Arizona giggled incessantly at her own dorky little joke.
Callie rolled her eyes but still found herself laughing. Arizona was without a doubt a big kid with a huge heart and a goofy sense of humor - it’s why she loved her so much.
Stepping up to Arizona’s side, she rested her chin on her shoulder, gazing down at their tiny human with adoration in her eyes. “I love you,” she murmured, kissing the dip of Arizona’s neck. “Sofia is lucky to have you.”
Arizona smiled warmly, leaning into Callie and glancing back over her shoulder. “I’m crazy about my girls,” she replied, winking once before smothering Sofia with another kiss. “Both my beautiful witch of a wife and our adorable little variety of squash.”
There was a knock on the apartment door, signaling Mark’s arrival. Shifting Sofia over to Callie, Arizona headed in that direction. “Don’t let him see her just yet, he needs to be prepared for the cuteness or it’ll be too much for him to handle.”
With a little skip in her step, Arizona grinned widely and dashed into the main room, jogging to the entrance and yanking open the front door. “Are you ready to have your mind blown-”
She stopped talking and blinked at the figure on the other side, beginning to frown. “You were supposed to dress up.”
Mark looked down at himself. “I did,” he stated, then peeled back his lips to reveal vampire fangs. He wore a tight black sweater, faded jeans, a grey trenchcoat with the collar flipped up around his neck, and the most ridiculously messy hairstyle Arizona had ever seen.
While she was busy giving him the stink-eye, Mark was taking a moment to check her out, too.
Robbins looked hot as a fake pirate.
Arizona was used to Mark’s boob-staring glazed look, so she had no trouble ignoring him as she scrutinized his outfit and tried to place where she’d seen it before. There were a lot of ‘modern’ vampires floating around pop culture these days, and the Dracula look was really a thing of the past. She wasn’t particularly into that HBO drama Callie watched weekly, but maybe it was something like-
It smacked her square in the face not a moment later and she let out a loud bark of laughter, immediately covering her mouth with a hand to stop any more sound from coming out.
“What?” Mark asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
“Oh my God, you’re Edward Cullen,” Arizona giggled, trying and failing to keep it together. It was too hard, because the realization that Mark Sloan had somehow dressed himself as a ‘Twilight’ character cracked her the hell up.
If only she had her iPhone on her. Teddy would love this.
“Who?” Mark asked again, still totally lost. “What’s an Edward?” When all he received in return was more giggling, he shook his head and pushed by her into the apartment.
Robbins might’ve been really hot, but sometimes she was just flat-out strange.
Callie appeared with Sofia in her arms, drawing his attention away as Arizona closed the door behind him. He broke out into a giant smile upon seeing their daughter all snug in her bright orange costume.
“Look at you,” he said quietly, his voice taking on that soft quality it tended to when addressing his kid. “Daddy’s little pumpkin, that’s what you are.” He plucked Sofia from Callie’s arms and held her high in the air, fussing over how perfect she was.
Arizona had stopped laughing by now, though she did make a mental note to grab a glitter stick on the way out of the apartment. She was pretty sure there were leftovers somewhere from the supplies she’d used to decorate the Peds ward earlier that week.
Callie looked curious as she shuffled over to Arizona’s side, linking arms with her and tilting her head in Mark’s direction. After five or six seconds, her brow ticked and she opened her mouth to speak.
Arizona leaned in and whispered directly into her ear. “He has no idea.”
A mischievous grin plastered itself across Callie’s face.
Arizona smiled to herself, brushing her nose against her wife’s ear before raising her voice back to normal levels. “You can both admit it now - I’m a genius. Our daughter just became ten times more adorable than any of us ever thought she could possibly be.” Considering Sofia was already at the top of the adorable-squee scale, that was saying something.
For once, Mark had no arguments with Arizona’s statement. “Our kid is better than other kids,” he stated, to which both mothers nodded in agreement.
Arizona took a moment to study her wife’s outfit, now that the lengthy boots were on and the lacy shawl was draped across her shoulders. She planted a lingering kiss on the side of Callie’s mouth, smiling. “And you, pretty lady, win the award for Hottest Costume tonight. Witches are more my type than sparkly vampires; sorry, Mark.”
Mark chose to ignore the jab as he settled Sofia in his arms, smiling as she grabbed the collar of his jacket. “Your Mama is just trying to ruin Daddy’s night, yes she is,” he cooed. Sofia shoved her other fingers into her mouth, giggling as he made a funny face. He turned to throw back a smartass remark of his own, only to catch a lengthy glimpse of Callie and Arizona sharing a lingering, intimate kiss.
Okay, so he was totally respectful of their relationship and staring wasn’t usually his thing - meaning he liked his balls right where they were - but he was only human. A guy human at that, so…he stared. Just a little.
Arizona was a little too absorbed in the slow kiss to even remember Mark existed, let alone was present and watching them. They’d both been insanely busy this week and it had been a few days since she’d been able to bask like this. She was a lucky, lucky woman to be married to Calliope Torres, and she quite enjoyed reminding herself of that fact when the opportunity arose.
Pulling back finally and looking more than a little hazy, Arizona flashed Callie a goofy smile. “Mmm. Shiver me timbers, m’lady. I’ll be walkin’ your plank later tonight.”
Callie rolled her eyes, laughing as she nudged the blonde playfully in the side. “I don’t even know what that’s a euphemism for, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be the one doing all the shivering.”
Mark tried and failed to stifle a quiet whimper as he made a point of turning away and bouncing Sofia in his arms. “Your mommies are mean, yes they are.”
Snickering, Arizona stole one last kiss from Callie before stepping away to gather her things. “We should get going, anyway. I promised Bailey we’d stop by the hospital before driving out to Woodward so she can see Sof in her costume.”
“Why do we have to drive to Woodward?” Callie whined. “It’s too far and apartment trick-or-treating is warmer.”
Arizona shared a brief look with Mark, then focused back on her wife. “It’s not far, it’s only one neighborhood over. And it’s not really trick-or-treating if we stay inside. Plus, it’s pretty warm out for October 31st.”
“C’mon, Torres,” Mark piped up, clapping a hand on her back and passing her the baby. “Man up. I want to take my girl here for some candy.”
Callie relented and waited for Arizona and Mark to grab the treat bag and all other necessary supplies, opting to carry Sofia in her arms for now and keep a bjorn handy for later.
“We’re not meeting up with that woman you met at Joe’s the other night, are we?” Arizona asked, fishing for the keys in her bag as they stood outside the apartment door.
Mark gave her a blank look. “Who?”
Arizona quirked an eyebrow as she locked up behind them. “Y’know, when we went out for drinks last week after work and you played darts for like two hours with her.”
When he continued to pretend he had no idea who she was talking about, Arizona sighed impatiently. “The one that…how do I put this delicately - you were firing your cannon into her porthole?”
Mark looked horrified and Callie nearly choked. “I did not!” he shot back, glowering at the blonde as they headed for the elevator. “Jesus, Robbins, we’ve only met up for drinks once since then. And that was it.”
Callie had to laugh as she tugged Arizona along before she could throw in her rebuttal. “Come along, children. You two can pull each other’s hair after we take our daughter out for candy.”
Arizona flashed Mark a smug grin as the steel doors closed behind them. “Whatever. I just don’t want one of the twenty-two-year-olds you’re boinking to crash Sofia’s first Halloween, that’s all.”
Callie elbowed her in the side, harder this time. “Play nice.”
“Arr.”
“Enough with the pirate talk, Arizona.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.”
***
Once they arrived at the hospital, Callie insisted on scurrying upstairs to check her messages, which left Arizona and Mark alone with Sofia by the main desk. Arizona plopped their daughter up onto the edge of the counter, keeping a firm hold so she didn’t fall while Mark readjusted the little green hat.
“She’s gonna grow up here,” the blonde mused, smiling when Sofia made a face. “You think it’ll make her want to become a surgeon, too? Or choose something the exact opposite, like a rocket scientist?”
“Well, she’s obviously already a genius,” Mark boasted with a wide grin, straightening out Sofia’s costume.
The little girl looked down and instantly became mesmerized by the funny black face painted onto the front of it. She pulled at it with her tiny fingers and made the same concentrative expression Callie always used when deeply absorbed in something.
Mark tilted his head. “That doesn’t count.”
Arizona watched Sofia with a loving smile. “She’s got plenty of time to grow into her genius-ness,” she agreed.
“With her DNA, it’s inevitable,” Mark added proudly. He quickly glanced at Arizona out of the corner of his eye, realizing his mistake. “I didn’t mean-”
“I know,” Arizona interjected, avoiding his gaze and focusing on Sofia. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it, though sometimes the reminder of Sofia not really being hers stung.
“She’s got three smart parents, she’ll be the most well-rounded kid anyone has ever known,” Mark added truthfully, tugging lightly on the green hat. “And with you and Torres in the same house, she’ll have no trouble learning to process her feelings out loud, over and over again.”
Arizona snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
A beat of silence passed while they both gazed at their daughter, who did nothing more than sit there staring back at them.
“I’m sorry about before,” Arizona said, glancing over at Mark. “I wasn’t trying to be an ass- er, a meanie.”
Mark quirked an eyebrow.
Arizona sighed and situated Sofia on her hip again, gently swaying in place. “I know it’s none of my business what or…who you do in your spare time, but you deserve better than a string of one-night-stands, Mark. You’re a good guy and an amazing dad, and any woman looking to settle down would be lucky to have you. Sof wants you to be happy, and so do Callie and I.”
Mark look just as surprised at the admission as Arizona felt giving it. She chewed on her bottom lip, hesitating when it came to over-stepping her bounds. “And if that woman isn’t meant to be Lexie, then she’s still out there. Little Grey isn’t the end of the line, even if it feels like it some days.”
Mark glanced away and clammed up, doing his best to keep all thoughts about Lexie Grey out of his mind. Tonight was supposed to be about his daughter’s first Halloween and he didn’t want anything to ruin it; least of all stupid emotions over something he couldn’t change.
Finally, he managed a soft smile and focused back on Arizona. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Robbins,” he replied. “Maybe it’s not a surprise Torres married you after all.”
Arizona rolled her eyes and chuckled, patting her hand over Sofia’s back.
Another brief hesitation, and Mark actually managed a quiet, “Thanks, Arizona,” looking embarrassed at the same time.
She blinked at him in surprise. “I don’t think you’ve ever called me by my first name before,” she mused as he grinned lopsidedly. “At the rate things were going, I was half expecting Sof to say ‘Blondie’ before ‘Mama’.”
“Don’t count that out,” Mark countered, smirking. “Still, Torres is lucky to have you. So is Mini Torres.”
Sofia picked at the clunky gold chains and necklaces hanging around Arizona’s neck, chewing on one thoughtfully and gazing up at her daddy with wide brown eyes. Arizona ducked her head down to nuzzle the top of Sofia’s head. “I’m the lucky one,” she murmured.
Before either one of them could get too awkward about the deeper direction the conversation had turned, someone called out “Robbins!” from the end of the hallway and Arizona looked up to see Karev headed their way.
Karev in a black-and-white striped prisoners uniform, complete with the dorky hat and a ball and chain around his ankle.
Arizona’s brow skyrocketed. “Seriously? I tell you to dress up for the kids tonight and this is what you choose?”
Alex simply grinned and gave one of his signature half shrugs, dumping a pile of peds charts onto the desk. He looked from his boss to Mark, tilting his head and slowly dropping his smile. “Dude. Edward? Seriously?”
Mark stood up a little taller, glancing down at himself and then glaring hard at Alex. “Shut it, Karev,” he growled. He still didn’t know what an ‘Edward’ was despite Arizona’s half-assed attempts to explain it to him. He was a freaking vampire, and a damn sexy one at that.
“Where the hell is Torres?” he barked, suddenly feeling vastly outnumbered as Arizona began to laugh at him again.
Sofia reached out a clenched fist toward Alex, still gumming her mother’s necklaces. She’d taken a liking to him early on, which didn’t surprise Arizona too much, given how he’d been Stark’s right-hand man during the nearly four months she’d stayed in the NICU.
Despite his gruff exterior, Arizona could easily see the warmth in Alex’s eyes as he reached out to bump his fist with Sofia’s tiny one. Sofia immediately tried to grab onto one of his fingers.
“See, Sof?” Arizona said casually, bouncing her daughter on her hip. “Uncle Alex thinks your Mama’s a slave driver. But come Tuesday morning, he’ll get a real taste of what it’s like to be under Captain Robbins’ thumb. Arr, indeed. He’ll be walkin’ the plank and scrubbin’ the deck before noon!”
Sofia giggled at Arizona’s funny voice. Mark and Alex just stared at her.
Arizona scoffed. “Oh, shove it. Neither of you have a sense of humor.”
Sofia’s attention wandered, looking beyond Karev as more people approached from down the hall. As they got closer, she dropped the gold necklace and started to squirm, releasing a string of non-coherent babbles.
Callie called out in a sing-song, grinning at the recognition in her baby girl’s features. She was followed by Miranda Bailey and Cristina Yang, the latter of which looked extremely bored and disinterested in baby talk.
“Hey there, mija,” Callie cooed, accepting her daughter from her wife and snuggling their baby pumpkin in her arms. She figured she should enjoy the mommy love while it lasted, knowing that sooner or later they’d have a hormonal teenager on their hands that hated her parents.
“Torres,” Bailey warned, cocking an eyebrow at the taller woman. “You just hand that baby right over here; stop being so stingy. You can hold her whenever you want.” She extended her arms expectantly.
Callie pouted but immediately transferred Sofia to Bailey without question. “Baby snatcher,” she grumbled.
Sofia clung to the collar on Miranda’s white labcoat, tugging on it with a look of pure concentration on her face. Bailey chuckled as she fussed over her. “I love this stage, they’re so cute when they first start to notice things. Aren’t you, sweetheart? Smart as your mommies and your daddy already, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Yeah, you are, look at those bright eyes. You already know what’s goin’ on around you, don’t you? Don’t-”
She became very aware of all five people staring at her in silent disbelief. She arched a sharp eyebrow and snapped, “What?”
All eyes averted themselves.
Cristina took a moment to study Mark with a growing frown. “Why are you dressed like that tweeny vampire sensation?”
“I am not!” he growled again, ignoring Callie, Arizona and Alex’s snickering.
“How do you know about it?” Cristina shot at Alex. “Reading the books on your breaks?”
He scowled. “I work in peds, moron. I’m getting Bieber and ‘Twilight’ shoved down my throat on a daily basis. Believe me, I wish I didn’t have a clue.”
“Just be happy you don’t know what literature today has been reduced to,” Arizona said to Mark. She was on board with Alex; they kept the kids happy and would converse about their favourite topics, but if she had to listen to another pro-Twilight rant or hear another Bieber song, she would kill herself.
Cristina, whose Halloween costume consisted of a nametag that read ‘Hi, my name is Meredith’, reached out to tug on the orange fleece of Sofia’s costume. “What happened to a mini G.I. Joe?” she asked Callie. “Isn’t ‘pumpkin’ a little cliché?”
Sofia flinched away from Yang and gave her an unimpressed, almost frightened stare. When Cristina tried to touch her again, she erupted into a loud cry, squirming in Bailey’s arms and trying to get away.
Bailey turned Sofia away from her, glowering at the resident. “Yang, what have I told you about scaring small children?”
“What?” Cristina shot back, exasperated. “I didn’t even do anything! I just looked at her.”
“Well, don’t,” Callie cut in, though she looked amused. It was a little funny how Sofia was terrified of her God mother most days.
Cristina rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in the air. “Fine. I give up. Keep your baby spit to yourself.” She turned and stalked away in the direction they’d come from.
Miranda fixed Callie with a pointed glare. “That’s what you get when you make a robot your baby’s God mother instead of choosing Dr. Bailey.”
Arizona watched the exchange with amusement, though she checked her watch several times and shot Mark a worried look. “We need to get moving if we’re going to be on time,” she whispered, leaning closer to him. Mark nodded and started pulling on his coat again.
“Think we can steal our tiny human back?” Arizona asked Bailey, looping an arm through Callie’s. “We need to get going. We’re headed to Woodward to trick-or-treat and don’t want pumpkin girl here getting sleepy before we arrive.”
“You’re really taking a baby out for something she’s too young to recognize?” Bailey asked, looking skeptical.
“Why not?” Mark said, shrugging. “It’s not like the candy is gonna go to waste.”
Bailey continued her patented stare down of all three parents. “So you’re planning on stealing candy from a baby?”
Arizona shared a brief look with Callie before reluctantly turning back to their more intimidating colleague. “Well, she’s…our baby, so…”
“Oh, so you’re stealing candy from your own baby, that’s much better.”
None of them had an answer to that.
Bailey shook her head, handed Sofia off to Arizona, then snatched up the pile of charts Alex had dropped earlier. “I expect a dozen Kit Kats by morning or you’ll all be cleaning bed pans.” She didn’t leave room for objections, brushing by the three of them without another word.
“Why do I get the impression she thinks we’re bad parents?” Callie asked no one in particular.
“She can’t make us clean bedpans,” Arizona added with a scoff. “We’re Attendings. I was almost her boss once.”
“She’s Bailey,” Alex pointed out. “She can make you do anything she wants you to.”
Arizona glanced over at Mark but his attention was focused elsewhere. She followed his line of sight and saw Lexie down the hall with Avery, talking to another doctor. His hand was wrapped around her lower back and they both wore what she assumed to be Romeo and Juliet costumes.
Her heart went out to him. She couldn’t even fathom watching Calliope be happy with another woman. Even though she’d tried to encourage him to move on earlier, she knew how it felt to love someone and not be with them. At least she’d been lucky enough to fix things with Callie before it had become too late. A big part of her hoped that in the end the same would work out for Mark and Lexie.
“Hey, Sof, how about you give your daddy a hug, hm?” Arizona played with their daughter’s tiny hand, smiling when big brown eyes blinked up at her from under the green cap. If anything could make him feel better, she knew Sofia would in a heart beat.
Mark tore his gaze away from Lexie and saw Sofia stretch her arms out toward him as Arizona gently eased her over. He hoisted her up, one arm supporting underneath the baby and the other splayed safely across her back. Small fingers clutched the material of his shirt, and a toothless grin succeeded in lifting his spirits.
“Thanks, Robbins,” he said quietly, watching Sofia chew on the fabric.
Callie leaned in and placed a soft kiss against the underside of Arizona’s jaw. “You’re awesome,” she whispered, earning a contented sigh in return.
“C’mon,” Arizona chuckled, tugging the arm loops through hers. “Baby Girl’s got the attention span of a gnat most days. Let’s show her how cool Halloween is before she gets bored and sleepy.”
Before leaving, she turned her attention to her resident. “Alex, do not let the kids have too much candy, no matter how hard they beg. The ones that turn on the tears are just trying to get to you. If we have a peds ward full of sugar-high tiny humans running around for the next few days, you get to do the babysitting. Are we clear?”
Alex grumbled under his breath, replying with a gruff “whatever,” before shuffling off to finish his evening rounds.
Arizona sighed happily and leaned into Callie as they began walking for the elevator. “I love having minions.”
Callie smirked as she leaned in to plant another teasing kiss just below her wife’s ear. “You’re hot when you’re bossy,” she whispered, resisting the urge to pull the lobe between her teeth and give it a playful tug. She highly doubted Mark or Sofia would appreciate being ditched so she and Arizona could make out in an on-call room.
Mark rolled his eyes and walked ahead, not dense enough to miss the googley eyes being exchanged behind him. “Your mommies are gonna give Daddy a heart attack way before his time,” he sighed to his daughter.
***
The older Seattle neighborhood they wandered through had a lot of character, Callie couldn’t help but notice the further they traveled. The trees were big and beautiful, looking as though they’d been growing for decades, while the majority of the houses were enormous and brand new, replacing the one-story originals that had been built in the nineteen-fifties. She was thoroughly enjoying the adventure of discovering something new - except for the bickering of her two co-parents beside her.
“It’s my turn,” Mark whined as he tried to take Sofia from Arizona. “You got to hold her for the last three houses.”
Arizona shot him a nasty glare and made no move to hand Sofia over. “You got her for the first fifteen minutes!”
Mark whirled to face Callie, crossing his arms. “Torres, tell her it’s my turn again.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “What are you, five?” She looked to her wife as they stopped at the foot of the next driveway, her brow lifting higher. “Do I need to ask you the same question?”
Arizona pouted and hugged Sofia closer. “Just a few more minutes. She’s so cute when people drop candy into the bucket, it’s like she’s trying to figure out where it disappears to. Mark can have her after the next one.”
Sofia tugged on her Mama’s gold necklaces with one hand and reached up to poke her in the nose with the other.
Arizona grinned and ducked her head away. “You don’t want to hang out with the scary vampire, do you? Pirates are way cooler.”
Sofia gummed the necklace to death in answer.
Mark stomped his foot and actually had the nerve to growl at the blonde.
“Arizona,” Callie warned, sighing patiently. “Please just give Sofia to him before he throws a tantrum.”
Reluctantly, Arizona gave in and passed their baby off to Sloan. “Fine. But only because he’s annoying when he’s whiny.”
Despite the jab, Mark grinned as he carried Sofia up to the doorway, leaving the two women at street level.
The same process occurred over the next ten or so houses, and soon enough they were working their way back down the opposite side of the street, in the direction of their parked car. Mark got to take Sofia a little more often than Arizona would’ve liked, but she knew that she and Callie were the ones lucky enough to tuck their baby girl in at the end of the night. It had to be hard on him sometimes.
It was one of the reasons she’d been so nervous about tonight and the surprise she’d been planning for Callie. Going to Mark first had her prepared for a fight, but he’d been surprisingly supportive of the whole thing, even though she knew deep down the idea of a larger distance between him and Sofia had to be terrifying.
Checking her watch, Arizona bit her bottom lip and glanced ahead to the three houses left between them and their target. “How about we skip the next few? They don’t have any lights on and I think Sof’s getting tired.”
“But we only have eight Kit Kat’s,” Callie answered fearfully, rooting through the Halloween bucket they’d been collecting candy in. “A few more houses won’t hurt. Maybe they’ll take requests.”
Sharing another look with Mark, Arizona nodded silently and looped one arm through Callie’s left while Mark did the same on her right. Together they pulled her down the street, catching her by surprise.
“Hey! What’s the big hurry?” She tried and failed to pull herself loose.
“Keep walking,” Mark said with a chuckle. “And close your eyes when Robbins says so.”
“Are you planning to do away with me?” Callie asked suspiciously, earning a playful glare from her wife.
“Hush, woman. And follow my instructions when I say so or you’ll ruin the surprise.”
“And here I was thinking that you were going to be the one getting ‘surprised’ tonight,” Callie said in a low voice so only Arizona could hear.
The blonde blushed and suddenly felt as though her costume was a little too hot and constricting. Her eyes drifted over Callie’s curvy and delicious form, praising her wife’s choice of dress for hitting all of her buttons in one try. She couldn’t help but wonder what Callie was wearing beneath it, remembering two years ago when her partner had put on a sexy little get-up underneath as a kinky surprise.
Mark returned from the latest door holding Sofia, pausing in front of the two women on the driveway and frowning. “How come she gets to stare openly at your chest and I don’t?”
Arizona snapped back to reality, drawing her eyes away from where she’d been accidentally ogling her wife’s cleavage. “What? I was not!”
Callie laughed, finding Arizona incredibly endearing when she was flustered. “She’s my wife, idiot. She can stare any time she wants. You, on the other hand, are just the ‘baby daddy’. No boob privileges for you.”
“Exactly,” Arizona agreed, shooting Mark a dirty look. “My boobs to stare at, not yours.”
Snorting, Mark shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t seen bef-” He stopped talking as laser beams practically shot out of Arizona’s eyes and incinerated him on the spot.
Callie hurriedly tugged her partner down the driveway before an all-out war could break out between them. Mark sighed to himself and looked at his daughter. “Daddy’s an idiot, yes he is,” he mumbled before following along.
Shrugging off the urge to pummel Mark into oblivion, Arizona skipped the next two houses and glanced sideways at Callie. “Close your eyes, baby. Please.”
Fidgeting with excitement, Callie did so and let Arizona guide her steps. “Don’t walk me into a lamp post, or you’ll be sleeping alone for a week.”
“Never in a million years,” Arizona laughed. She waited until she had Callie standing on the driveway of one of the bigger houses on the block, then stopped in place. “Okay. Open.”
Callie did so, blinking a few time and looking around. She found herself standing in front of a three-car garage and some fancy landscaping lining the driveway. “Er…okay. What am I supposed to be looking at?”
Mark shifted the baby in his arms and carried her a short distance away, giving them some privacy.
Arizona took a deep breath and stepped around to face Callie head on. “Okay, so here’s the thing - we have a baby now.”
Callie waited patiently for more, but after a few seconds of silence, she grew even more confused. “Okay,” she repeated slowly. “I am aware of that fact. I was kinda there when it happened.”
Arizona shook her head, knowing she was being stupid for letting her nerves get the better of her. It’s not like Callie was going to clobber her over the head for this or anything.
She hoped.
“What I mean is, we have a baby now. And I imagine in the future - the far future, once Sofia’s a bit older and our timing is better, we might have more. And I love the apartment we’re in, I do, the location is great and Mark’s across the hall and it’s got all of these other great qualities. But it doesn’t have that much space, and Sofia is growing like a weed these days. Like a really cute, adorable, fantastic garden vegetable, actually.”
Callie smiled, tilting her head and waiting for her wife to continue.
Licking her lips, Arizona took a small step closer to Callie and took both of her hands. “All I wanted growing up was a great big back yard to play in. Sometimes Tim and I got lucky when we moved and we’d have a small space outside, but nothing permanent enough for jungle gyms, o-or puppies or sandboxes. And I really want Sofia to have all that, so…”
She glanced over her shoulder at the house. “This place doesn’t go on the market for another two days, but a friend of mine let me take a look at it last week and I think it’s perfect. I didn’t buy it or anything,” she quickly added, before Callie actually did kill her. “I just talked with a realtor about options and I definitely think we could do it.”
Arizona took only the briefest of seconds to suck in a much-needed breath before continuing, wanting to get this all out before Callie had a chance to reply. She started rummaging madly around her purse for the brochures she was positive she’d brought with her. “There a-are great schools nearby, it’s still only a fifteen minute drive from work, twenty on a bad day; the house has five bedrooms and a beautiful décor I think you’d love. The crime rate has been super low for the last decade or so and it’s a really family friendly neighborhood. Lot’s of younger families, which probably means Sofia will have friends to play with as she gets older.”
Callie was too stunned to reply right away, so she just stood there taking in the house and Arizona’s frantic explanation.
“Honey,” she called softly after a moment, reaching out to stop Arizona’s frantic digging spree through her bag. When blue eyes finally looked up, wide and slightly fearful, Callie simply smiled and tugged on her partner’s wrist, turning her hand over to intertwine their fingers. “I love it.”
Arizona visibly relaxed. “Oh thank God.”
Laughing, Callie pulled her into a light kiss. “I love that you put this much thought into it and how you’re always putting our baby girl first. I love you for being so awesome.”
Her smile faded just a tiny bit after a second, and she looked hesitant to say what came next. “It’s just, I mean…Mark, h-he’s across the hall, and with Sofia, I don’t…” She trailed off, just knowing from the sagging of Arizona’s shoulders that this was not coming out right at all.
“Don’t, Torres,” Mark spoke up, stepping forward again with Sofia dozing lightly on his shoulder. “You’re still really close and I can come over all the time to see my girl. I’m not saying it won’t suck without you three right across the hall, but Sofia deserves a big house with a backyard. I think she’d love it here.”
“Are you sure?” Callie asked tentatively, loving the idea of owning a big home with her wife more and more by the second. She just hated knowing Mark would be farther away from their daughter, especially these days with how lonely he seemed.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Mark confirmed with a warm smile. “You’ve got a girl you love who loves you back. Move into whatever house she wants.”
Arizona sent Mark a grateful smile. It was a huge relief not to have to fight him on this issue, even though he’d been reluctant when she’d first told him. She figured that was a better solution than blindsiding him tonight when she told Callie. “Do you want to see the inside? I convinced the realtor to hang around until eight, so we’ve got ten minutes before she has to leave.”
“Hell yes,” Callie laughed, embarrassed to find herself holding back tears. That tended to happen a lot more these days, since she’d had Sofia. “Lead the way, Mrs. Robbins.”
Beaming with excitement, Arizona started tugging Callie towards the front door. She paused just before going up the walkway, looking back over her shoulder. “Mark? You coming?”
“Nah,” he answered, waving them along. “I’ll stay here with Tiny Torres. You two lovebirds go ahead.”
Arizona nodded. “We’ll be quick.” With that, she tugged Callie inside.
Mark rubbed a hand over the baby’s back, slowly wandering along the driveway. “What do you think, hm? Should Daddy get a house, too? One that’s bigger and a lot cooler than your moms’?” He smiled when she yawned in response. “Nah, you’re right. Let them have the bigger house for now. When you get older, I’ll buy you a cool car and then you’ll like me better.”
***
“Is that one right there?” Arizona pointed to a red wrapper on the ground. She sat on the floor with her back against the couch, legs stretched out in front of her. Callie relaxed in the same position to the blonde’s right. The baby monitor sat on the cushion behind them, showing Sofia sound asleep in her crib.
“No, that’s a peanut butter cup,” Mark said, sifting through the pile of candy dumped out in front of them. He sat opposite the two women and was busy digging for Kit Kats. None of them wanted to cross Bailey in the morning without a significant stash at the ready. So far they’d found nine out of the needed twelve.
Sighing in frustration, Arizona leaned forward to grab a handful of chocolates and then scooted back against the couch, handing a few over to her wife. “I give up. Go buy some before work tomorrow morning, Mark. She’ll never know the difference.” She unwrapped a mini Twix and popped it in her mouth.
“Me? Why the hell do I have to do it?” Mark opened a box of Goobers and started popping them like pills. “Why can’t you just take a few from the giant stash in the pediatrics ward? I saw the nurses’ station, they had a ton.”
Arizona paused mid-bite to quirk an eyebrow in Mark’s direction. “Really? You want to steal candy from sick, dying children? Is that what you’re saying?”
Mark shrugged unapologetically. “You really want Bailey demoting us to bedpan duty? She’ll find a way to do it, I know she still.”
Callie twirled an Oh Henry between her fingers, pondering the lesser of two evils. “Steal from the tiny humans,” she said to Arizona after a moment, biting into the chocolate bar. She crossed her feet at the ankles and relaxed back against the couch again.
Mark sprawled out on his left side, absently digging for more candy. “Y’know, this’ll probably be the only year we get to do this. If she’s got a sweet tooth anything like the two of you, we’ll be lucky if Sofia throws us so much as an empty wrapper once in a while.”
Arizona glanced sideways at Callie, nudging her and nibbling on another small piece of chocolate. “I’d be more worried about this one here. She guilted me into giving her the stash of German chocolates my mom mailed me last week. It’s the eyes and the boobs; I have no willpower of my own when she uses them against me.”
“What are you lookin’ at me for?” Callie shot back. “You’re the one that ate an entire tub of frozen yogurt three days ag-”
Arizona clamped a hand over Callie’s mouth, turning red. “He gets the point, sweetie.”
Mark smirked and popped a Gobstopper into his mouth. “I get the boob thing,” he replied casually, “but I still didn’t think there was anything that could get you to give up chocolate, Robbins.”
Arizona narrowed her eyes. “Watch it, Sloan,” she warned, “and keep your filthy man eyes off my wife’s cleavage. We’ve already had this conversation once tonight.”
“What? I’m just saying I agree with you,” Mark added. “She’s got great boobs, and the woman knows how to use them.”
“Somehow I’m pretty sure I’ve had this conversation backwards before,” Callie said idly, though neither of them paid any attention.
“Yes, she does, but that doesn’t mean you get to say it out loud,” Arizona argued, leaning forward to snatch the unwrapped chocolate bar out of Mark’s hand. “My wife. Keep your eyes to themselves.”
“It’s not like I can control what I look at, Robbins.”
“Then I’m offering to purchase you blinders.”
“For what it’s worth, he was too busy staring at your ass tonight to ogle my ladies,” Callie pointed out, picking absently at a Snickers wrapper. “Why do you think he kept walking behind you?”
Arizona’s eyes widened and she blushed furiously. “What? Mark!”
Mark remained unfazed, shrugging unapologetically. “Torres has a great rack, you’ve got a great ass. Just the way it is.” He knew he was playing with fire here, but he blamed the sugar rush coursing through his system. Plus riling up Robbins was too much of a favourite past time to give it up now.
Callie giggled when Arizona huffed and crossed her arms. “You do, babe. It’s a really, really nice butt.”
Despite her crankiness with Sloan, Arizona couldn’t help but sweep her eyes over Callie’s tempting form one more time. She was unable to hide the sexy smirk that began to appear. “I’m not the only one with nice…‘assets’,” she pointed out in a low voice.
Mark looked away and shook his head. Sometimes he wondered why the universe had to torture him with two hot women as his co-parents.
He really, really needed to start having sex again. Before he died of frustration.
“Please tell me that behind that OCD-reflex and cranky, bossy personality is a dirty, naughty little pirate just waiting to be let out,” he called over the candy pile, staring at Callie and trying to gauge her reaction to the inaudible whispers Arizona was currently murmuring into her ear.
Looking a little flushed herself, Callie reached into the small pile of candy on her lap and tossed a Milky Way at Mark. It hit him squarely in the forehead and landed in front of him, where he abruptly tore open the wrapper and stuffed it into his mouth.
The laughter than ensued was interrupted by Sofia’s soft cries echoing over the baby monitor and through the small opening of the nursery door. Mark immediately jumped up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’ve got her,” he said, jumping over Arizona’s legs and just barely avoiding a kick aimed at his ass as he jogged over to the nursery.
Callie shook her head, still blushing from the naughty words whispered into her ear. “You really shouldn’t tease him like that, Arizona,” she chastised with a soft laugh. “He’s sexually impaired at the moment and it’s really not helping.”
“So?” Arizona countered. “How is that my problem?” She stole Callie’s Snickers and unwrapped it, then reached over to her other side to grab some of the house brochures. “How great was that crown molding throughout the main floor and master bedroom? You don’t see stuff like that very often.”
Callie, who already loved the house and didn’t need any more convincing, slid a hand up her wife’s thigh and gave it a hard squeeze. She leaned over the short distance and took a bite out of the Snickers in the blonde’s right hand, freezing her in her tracks.
Licking her lips, Arizona gently placed the house papers down again and slowly turned to look her wife in the eye. “Do you have any idea what pirates like me do to naughty witches like you?” she murmured suggestively. She turned her body more to face the brunette and slowly slid a hand up her torso towards her perfect breasts.
Callie caught the blonde by the wrist, chuckling as she eased the searching fingers away. “I’m sure you’re going to show me after Mark leaves and Sofia’s down for the night.” She wanted zero interruptions guaranteed before she lost herself in stripping Arizona of her pirate costume, piece by piece.
Stealing a secretive glance towards Sofia’s nursery, Arizona took the opportunity to lean in and pull Callie into a deeper kiss than before. When the woman tried to pull away, she tangled her fingers into dark hair and gave her a rough tug forward.
Mark was busy. They had a minute or two.
Callie moaned into the kiss and found herself quite out of breath by the time Arizona released her. “Tease..” She tugged on one of Arizona’s necklaces. “As soon as he leaves, you’re mine.”
Arizona whimpered, hating her libido for choosing the most inopportune time for making her want to maul her partner. “Got any ice cubes?” she said with a light laugh, definitely feeling over-heated by this point.
“We can use those, too,” Callie said idly, pretending to pay attention as she leaned forward to dig more candy from the pile.
Mark stepped out of the nursery before Arizona could do much more than stare at Callie with a slackened jaw. “She’s out again,” he said, closing the door behind him and tip toeing back to his previous spot. He sat down, then gauged their current position, looking a little apprehensive. “Anyone up for some freaky movies?”
Arizona caught Callie’s eye and saw her tilt one shoulder slightly, indicating that it was her choice.
Any given day, Arizona would boot his ass clear out of their apartment, no questions asked. But as horny as she was, she reminded herself that Mark would be going home to a depressing and empty apartment with no Lexie and no Sofia to keep him company on a night when friends and family had fun together. That had been her exact same position the previous Christmas, and it wasn’t exactly something she’d ever forget. Even though Halloween wasn’t quite on the same caliber, she sympathized.
Damn it.
Sighing, Arizona smiled in his direction and shrugged. “Nothing too freaky, please. Paranormal Activity nearly put me in an institution.”
“She was clingy for a week,” Callie confirmed.
Arizona wrinkled her nose and ripped open a chip bag, mumbling “Was not,” under her breath.
Mark looked relieved, even though he tried not to show it. “Torres has an awesome collection,” he boasted excitedly, jumping up and scrambling for the DVD case. “We’ll find something.”
Callie watched him go before turning her attention to Arizona, knowing how hard it was for her to make that decision. It was what made her such a wonderful person, putting others well-being before her own. “I love you, you know that?” she said quietly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
Sighing, Arizona smiled back and gave a tiny shrug. “Arr. I do.”
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