Fanfic: Step by Step
Title: Step by Step
Pairing: Arizona/Callie
Rating: PG
Summary: A small argument leads to some little steps.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not intend to profit in any way, shape or form by posting this story. It's for fun, nothing more, and nothing less.
A/N: Having writer’s block on my two current stories, so I requested some prompts via twitter and this is what came out. It’s a short fluffy piece, so enjoy! And a huge thank you to Drea for checking it out and helping me as always. :D
“I can’t believe you didn’t think too, you know…” Arizona said with a wave of her hand as she pulled open the refrigerator door with a little more force than she anticipated, “…maybe talk to me, your wife, before agreeing to something like this?” She huffed while pulling out a casserole dish which she set up this morning to be cooked for dinner in the evening. She smacked the door shut and dropped the dish on the counter while she moved to set the oven at the right temperature. “Do you even realize the extra stress you’re not only putting on yourself, but on me and your daughter?” She opened the oven and grabbed the dish and put it inside before shutting the door again. She set the timer and then turned to face Callie, who was standing on the other side of the counter and glancing between her daughter on the floor and her ranting wife.
“But the chief…” Callie started, but was quickly interrupted.
“And then what happens when I’m rushing in the morning to get ready and Sofia is crying and I can’t get to her immediately? Huh? And then she loses hope that neither of her mommies comes to her rescue and becomes a complete daddy’s girl and clings to Mark? Then what? She decides she’s going to live at Daddy’s and we become the mean and evil mommies who she hates which makes us decide we’ll never have any more kids, because who wants to go through that type of pain again, right?” Arizona shrugs her shoulders slightly, her eyes flooding with tears. “And I know if you asked me a few months ago I would’ve closed off and flat out said no, but I do want more kids with you. Pretty little boys and girls with your jet black hair, olive complexion and amazingly expressive brown eyes…”
Callie frowned while watching her wife wear herself out on this ridiculous notion of how they will ruin Sofia’s life because she is going into work a few hours early to help Meredith study for her boards. “Arizona…” Callie spoke softly, watching her wife for a moment before continuing, “It’s just for a few months. And the chief is right; I have an awesome study method that can really help…”
“Calliope.” Arizona spoke the name firmly and it promptly made Callie shut her mouth. Her wife could be kinda scary when she chose to be. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and glanced down at Sofia who was happily playing with a stuffed duck and a block with the letter ‘S’ on it. That girl had no idea what she would be in for in the future. “Three hours a day for however long is a lot of time for me to be missing out on; or Sofia to be missing out on. We both already work insane hours; sometimes we’re in the hospital for days at a time…” Arizona paused and stared at Callie for a long moment. Callie wasn’t sure if she should say something or not, but decided to just wait it out. It felt safer, somehow. Arizona sighed and turned away from Callie, back to the fridge to get something to drink. “It’s hard enough to find time for one another already, but now I have to compete with Meredith Grey for your attention too?”
Oh… Callie thought. Shit… that was another thought that went through her mind. She suddenly felt very small and insecure and angry at herself. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth while her brain frantically fought for something to say in response to her wife’s last words.
“It’s just… so hard sometimes and I don’t want to miss things and I don’t want you to miss things. We shouldn’t miss things! And leave things so Mark and swoop in and woo our daughter away from us because we’re too busy for her!” Arizona’s hands were clenching the counter top and her bottom lip was already trembling. Callie didn’t think agreeing to tutor Meredith Grey was going to start a war in her household.
“Arizona, you’re being a little crazy here, so I’m just going to chalk this up to being your day.” Callie said while giving her wife a look with a raised brow. “You know that our parenting system is working just fine and that would never happen, because all three of us love Sofia. She is the most loved baby ever and she’ll never hate us; especially you, with all your awesomeness. You have this…” Callie licked her lips as a smile tugged at each corner while thinking of Arizona with Sofia, “You just have this way with kids and even more so with Sofia. She’s totally bonded with you. You’re the only one that can put her back to bed after she wakes. Do you realize how frustrated that makes Mark on a daily basis?” Callie laughed remembering Mark having a similar breakdown a few weeks ago about their daughter loving Arizona more than she and Mark combined.
Arizona rolled her eyes and stepped away from behind the counter and wandered over to the couch. She flopped down on it with a dramatic sigh and turned her gaze onto Sofia. “I don’t like you having yet another commitment in our already drastically busy schedules. Sofia deserves to have all of us around as much as possible. I don’t want you to be an absentee parent much like my father was to me…”
They both sat in silence, letting that thought linger in the air for several moments. Callie didn’t know what it was like, having a parent disappear for weeks, even months at a time. Her mother and father were always home for her in the evening. They all had breakfast together every morning. She had a nanny too, so she was never alone growing up, but she didn’t have a father missing for large chunks of time like Arizona did. She knew that Arizona had a great relationship with her parents, but apparently, her wife downplayed how much missing her father during her childhood affected her.
“He was never there when the big things happened as a kid with me. My brother taught me to ride a bike. My mom fixed my first skinned knee. There’s a large chunk of my life that he only saw me live through pictures my mom took and I just don’t want that to happen to Sofia...” Arizona’s voice faltered slightly while tears fell down her cheeks. “I don’t want Sofia to wonder where you are when she’s starring in her first school play. Or wonder where you are when she hits her first homerun, because me, I’m going to be there for everything. I can’t miss it and I don’t want you to miss anything either.”
While Arizona was talking, both Callie and Sofia could hear the fear and sadness in her voice. Callie reached out and held Arizona’s hand and glanced at their daughter who had used their coffee table to steady herself and stand up and then slowly walked on shaky legs towards her Mama. Callie’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Sofia crash into Arizona’s leg and hold her arms up at her. Arizona’s eyes widened as she turned her head and stared at Sofia for a moment, and then turned back at Callie. Both of them laughed after a moment of dead silence. “D-did she just… walk to me?”
Sofia’s chubby little hands smacked against her legs, reminding Arizona that the little girl wanted to be picked up. She lifted her swiftly into her arms and pressed the girl against her chest. She nuzzled her little nose against Arizona’s neck. Arizona couldn’t stop the tears from falling as she pressed her lips against the top of Sofia’s head.
“She could tell you were upset and while you were talking, I watched her use that table to steady herself and stand and then she just…” Callie’s smile was breathtaking as she looked at Arizona, “…walked. Right to you, like she had known how to do that all her life.” Callie reached out and gently caressed Sofia’s cheek and then Arizona’s. She leaned into Callie’s hand. “We won’t miss everything, Arizona. I promise. And the few things we do miss, we’ll see in other ways. I know it’s not ideal, but this little girl is going to have so much of her life in pictures and video that we will see everything. But it’s not going to be like your childhood, where your father may have been gone for months at a time, I promise you that. And you don’t have to compete for my attention. I love you. These few hours are just to help Meredith and it’s not going to last for a long time, okay?”
She caressed Arizona’s cheek again and leaned in to kiss her cheek gently and then kiss her lips. “I promise you.”
“Okay. O-okay, I’m sorry for being so crazy about this.” Arizona held to Sofia as though she were a lifeline. The little girl held tightly to her as well. “I love my father, he was wonderful to me, but I missed him so much when he was gone.”
“Any child would, Arizona. He was your father. But we work at a hospital and it’s right across the street. And yeah, I’ll be going in early, but if something happens and you need me, you just have to call and I’ll be here. It’s not like I’m going to me thousands of miles away. I’ll never be so far from you. Ever.”
They gazed into each other's eyes, the argument long forgotten and complete love enveloping both. Callie curled her arm around Arizona’s shoulders and pulled her against her body. She used her free hand to gently caress Sofia’s back.
“We should call Mark. Tell him about Sofia’s first steps. He shouldn’t miss a thing either, right?” Arizona’s words were quiet, but Callie could hear her clearly.
“Later. I just want to have this moment with you and our princess.” She kissed Arizona’s temple and laughed. “And you thought you wouldn’t be a good mother. Seriously.” They both laughed and held one another. They even put Sofia on the floor and tried to get her to walk again, but she was more interested in her plush ducky and bouncing happily. Neither complained as they watched her, happy that she was in a world where she was loved so completely by so many.