Proposal Re-Write Event: It's Just Lunch
Title: It's Just Lunch (1/1)
Author: Nora C. Parker
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Summary: A different method of proposing.
Disclaimer: I have no ownership over the characters.
Note: Occurs shortly before 7x17. Comments are always welcome.
It’s Just Lunch
As Callie Torres saw Arizona Robbins approach her table, the failing smile on the other woman gave Callie an indication of how lunch might go. “Hey, Arizona.”
“Callie.” Arizona turned towards the table’s other occupant, her inflection notably flat. “Mark.”
“Hey, Blondie.”
The casual greeting earned a discouraged look from Callie, to which Mark just shrugged.
After resting her tray on the table for a moment, Arizona picked it up again. “You know, I’ve got a lot of charts to review. I think I’m just going to eat upstairs.” Without any additional words, the Peds surgeon was gone.
“Well, someone’s panties are in a twist today.” Mark stabbed at more of his salad and gave a self-satisfied grin.
“I promised her we’d have lunch.”
“No one kicked her out.”
“Mark.” Callie took her rarely used serious tone; rare, probably, because it was rarely recognized by the Plastics surgeon. “I guess she meant just the two of us. She and I were supposed to have lunch.”
“Don’t you live together?”
“You’re right.” Callie nodded.
“See. I’m always right.”
“No, Mark. You’re right in that I should have paid attention to what she wanted.”
“When did I say…?” Sloan was truly confused by his friend’s behavior.
“You should have.” Callie gathered the remains of her lunch from the table. “I need to go.”
“Fine, Torres. Leave me.” He sat back, putting out the appearance that none of this bothered him by giving a grin to some young nurses who were walking by.
Still, as he watched Torres depart, he stabbed again at his salad. “Women,” he muttered.
# # #
After a brief search, Callie found Arizona eating by herself in one of the Pediatrics floor’s conference rooms. “Want company?”
The response was a shrug.
“Arizona, I’m sorry about lunch.” Callie put her tray down on the table and took a seat next to Arizona. “We eat with other people all the time.”
“Maybe I’m just being selfish, Calliope. But I’ve barely seen you all week.”
“Your schedule’s been crazy,” Callie agreed. “Don’t we have plans to have dinner tonight?”
“I need to cancel. I know we talked about it. And I wanted to, I really want to. I wanted us to have an old-fashioned date night. But I had a transfer today from a rural hospital. A tiny human who’s putting up a fight for his life. I can’t leave him to the residents, not yet.”
“It’s okay.”
“Is it? Because I’m selfish and want to have time with my girlfriend. Alone time. Us time.”
The declaration made Callie smile as she took hold of Arizona’s hand and put it between hers. “It’s okay. That tiny human needs you.”
“And I need you. I love you, Calliope,” Arizona placed a kiss on the back of Callie’s hand before she continued. “And I know that soon, everything’s going to change for us. You’ll have the baby, and our lives will change.”
“You agreed to the baby.” Callie was becoming noticeably excited. “You agreed to being part of the plan.”
With her free hand Arizona stroked Callie’s cheek, tucking some stray locks behind her ear. “I am part of the plan.” She emphasized the pronoun. “I’m in. I want to be in. All in.”
“Really?”
Arizona moved a hand down to the swell of Callie’s abdomen. “Oh yeah. I’m in. This is our family.”
“Us and…”
A hand over her lips stilled Callie.
“Our family, Calliope. I so want us to be a family.”
“Well, we are, right?” Callie couldn’t help but sound confused.
“This might be wrong, I don’t know. The timing might be wrong. I wanted to do this tonight. I wanted tonight to be perfect. Our time.” Arizona fished into her lab coat pocket, and brought out a black velvet box.
Holding the box, Arizona dropped to one knee. “I love you. I mean it when I say that I’ll Love you forever, Calliope Torres.” She opened the box, revealing a round-cut diamond at just over one caret, set in a platinum band. “Will you marry me?”
Tears were visible in Callie’s eyes. “Arizona….”
“I know now might not be the right time, or the right place.”
“Yes.” Callie whispered.
“Yes?” Arizona’s question was hopeful. “Yes it’s not right, or…?”
Callie dropped to her knees, also. She took Arizona’s face between her hands and planted a solid kiss on her lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Tears were now flowing down Arizona’s cheeks. She removed the ring from the box and slipped it on the Callie’s left ring finger.
They met in another kiss. This one deeper, more needy. ”I so want to celebrate,” Callie whispered, her mouth barely off of Arizona’s. “I want to celebrate now.”
The sound of a pager interrupted any option for a celebration. Arizona dabbed at Callie’s eyes. “It’s my tiny human.”
Using the pad of her thumb, Callie returned the favor and brushed away Arizona’s tears. “Later,” she whispered. “We’ll celebrate later.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. If you want to have your way with fat me.”
“Watch what you say about my beautiful fiancée.”
“Hmmmm.” Callie hummed, allowing herself to be satisfied with one more kiss. “I like the sound of that.”
“Then get ready to hear it more.” A quick peck and Arizona was out of the room.
Left alone in the room, Callie looked down at her hand, feeling the strangeness, the weight of the ring. She’d had her fears about Arizona. She’d been hedging her bets. But if this wasn’t a sign that Arizona was with her in this, was part of the plan, she wasn’t sure what would be.
Now, the question was how to tell Mark. She hoped he’d be happy for her, for them.
From within, she felt the flutter of the baby’s kick. Her child was voting for marriage, for a life with Arizona.
Callie looked at her finger again, seeing how the lights caught and reflected in the stone. They were moving on to something new. She once told Arizona that she was ready to go on a journey with her. After many fits and starts, she was fully in, back to their shared path. Ready to take that journey to a new place. Together.
(the end)