FanFic: As Time Goes By
Title: As Time Goes By
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13 (I’m terrible at rating these things)
Summary: Callie’s promotion brings a man from Arizona’s past back into her life. This is my first venture into an AU fiction. There are small things that do come from the show, but nothing is spoilery.
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. Please don't sue me.
A/N: I’m gonna be completely honest here. I know nothing about pregnancy and I’ve never had the desire to have children, but I super really want Callie and Arizona too. So yeah, this might not be exactly how pregnancies go and maybe I’m embellishing just how much the hormone changes are going to effect and I’ll probably be off on how quick those hormones effect the afflicted, but it’s how the story is going and I’m gonna stick to it. :D The ideas in came from me and jj_280391 so this was basically written by us both.
A/N 2: This is meant to be fluffy and fun, so I hope it comes across that way. Please leave a comment, whether or not you like it, because comments are love and fuel future writing. I'm a beast that needs fueeeeel! Rawr!
Callie Torres grinned to herself as she sauntered into the Chief’s office. She quickly curbed her swagger when she saw him sitting behind his desk. “You wanted to see me, Chief?” He glanced up and nodded, then waved his arm toward the chair in front of him.
“Yes, Dr. Torres. Please, have a seat.” He waited until Callie was seated and then sat up and smiled at her. “I’m going to cut to the chase here, Torres. Your research is amazing, you log more OR hours than any other attending in Orthopedics, your work and teaching is spectacular and you bring in a lot of famous clientele here. It’s been great for the hospital and our ranking has shown improvement ever since we promoted you to attending.”
Callie sat up in her chair, she was enjoying the praise. She’d been an attending for three years now and her life really couldn’t be better. She had a gorgeous wife and daughter and they were starting to work toward kid number two. Callie was excited that Arizona had finally given in and was in shock when she asked to carry the child. She just couldn’t wait for her mini-Arizona and was so excited for her mini-me to have a sibling.
“Well, you may not be aware, but Dr. Chang has finally given me his letter of resignation, so with that, I’d like to offer you the position of Head of Orthopedics. I’m positive you can take on the additional responsibilities and keep the ortho wing running smoothly. We both know you’ve been doing it for quite a while already, but now you’ll have the title and the pay.” He pushed a contract toward her on the table.
She reached out and picked up the contract and did her best to control her breathing. Taking the position would give her a healthy pay raise, not that she wasn’t already making a large salary. Her wife, as Head of Pediatrics, made quite a bit more, but this would make them practically even. She felt herself fill with pride and shook her head slightly before laughing. “I can’t thank you enough, Chief. This vote of confidence is really appreciated.”
“You earned it, Torres,” the Chief smiled and handed her a pen.
Callie quickly signed her name and then stood up to shake the Chief’s hand. It was firm and quick and she just couldn’t hide the grin on her face. “Your new attending will be joining us within the week.”
She nodded and headed out of the Chief’s office and then did a quick jump in the air while pumping her fist above her head. “Yes!” She heard the Chief laughing behind her and turned to give him a sheepish smile and then headed to the elevator to find her wife and give her the news.
Meanwhile, Arizona was standing at the nurses’ station in peds writing in a chart for a patient she was just admitting. She heard footsteps behind her and felt her heart start to race, hoping it was her beautiful wife. She finished her note as the feet made their way next to her. “Hey!” She pouted and turned to Teddy and then sighed softly. “Hey.” She offered a weak wave and then turned back to her chart.
“Oh jeeze, don’t be so happy to see me.” Teddy crossed her arms over her chest.
“Sorry, sorry, I thought you were Callie. She had to go see the Chief this morning and was kind of freaked, so I gave her a pep talk and I just thought you were her coming to tell me what’s going on.” Arizona bit her bottom lip while she made another note in the chart and then shut it and handed it off to a nurse behind the station with a quick thank you.
“Well, this might have something to do with that, actually. My brother just called and told me that his husband just got a job here. I had talked to the Chief about Nix a few weeks ago, because Greg had to move here when he made partner in his law firm.”
“You never told me your brother was gay.”
“It’s not like it’s something I bring up in everyday conversation, do you?”
“No, I guess not.” Arizona rolled her eyes and leaned her hip against the counter; she snapped her tongue against her lips and frowned. She felt water starting to pool in her eyes and turned her face away from Teddy.
“Are you crying?” Teddy reached out and put her hand on Arizona’s forearm. She tilted her slightly so she could get a better look at Arizona’s face. “I wasn’t trying to hide it; I just never had reason to bring it up before. And it just seems like something big must be happening, if the Chief called in Callie and Nix was recently hired.” Teddy shrugged slightly.
“No, no! You’re right, Teddy, absolutely right. I’m really glad for your brother and his husband.” She sniffled and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I just thought…” Arizona narrowed her eyes at Teddy and then pointed at her accusingly. “I just thought we were closer friends than that, but now I just realize, I don’t really think I know all that much about you.” She then slapped the counter with her free hand and shook her slightly. “Whatever!” She offered the narrowed eyes at Teddy again and then stomped off, the wheels on the back of her shoes clacking loudly throughout the hallway. She disappeared into her office moments later.
Teddy stood there befuddled and looked at the nurse that was standing behind the counter. The nurse’s mouth was on the floor and Teddy shrugged her arms slightly. “What the hell was that?” Teddy stood there for another moment and then made her way into a nearby room, where there was a child with a heart condition.
Callie burst into Arizona’s office about fifteen minutes later. “Oh my god, babe, you will never believe what happened to me! The Chief wasn’t angry with me about the pro-bono case I did last week; in fact, he told me I was awesome and made the hospital better and then offered me a promotion! Dr. Chang retired! I am the new Head of Orthopedics!” She presented herself in the center of Arizona’s office with jazz hands and then started dancing, doing cheesy things like ‘the running man’ and following it with the ‘raise the roof’.
“That’s great, Calliope.” Arizona sniffled and then clapped a couple times. “I’m so excited for you.” She managed to get the words out before she burst into another loud sob. She leaned over her knees in her chair and covered her face with her hands. “That’s just so terrific, two department heads in one family. We’re such overachievers.” Those last words were barely heard from behind Arizona’s hands.
Callie blinked and then quickly headed over to Arizona, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands into her own. “Hey, hey, Arizona, babe, please tell me what’s wrong?” Callie was concerned. After lowering Arizona’s hands, she held them both with her right hand and raised her left hand to gently brush away Arizona’s tears.
“I don’t know Teddy at all! I thought we were friends. But she has this whole entire life that I know nothing about, like her gay brother and his husband and I just, I thought we were friends!” Arizona leaned forward and rested her head against Callie’s shoulder and gripped Callie’s hands tightly.
Callie leaned her head against Arizona’s and then gently kissed her temple. “You are friends, but friends don’t tell each other everything, babe. I mean, it took you and me over a year to have an argument over children. That should’ve been something we cleared up before we got so serious, right? There will be things you don’t know about Teddy, but you are friends, I mean, she did tell you right?”
Arizona nodded slightly and turned her head so that she could press a soft kiss against Callie’s neck. “You always know what to say to me.”
“That’s because I love you.” Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona and blinked. “How are you feeling, babe? You feel like you have a fever?” Callie moved her hand over Arizona’s forehead and then leaned back a bit to look at her face. She was flushed and looked tired.
“I’ve been feeling tired all day, honestly. And I snapped at Teddy and I feel kind of guilty about it.” She leaned back in her chair and smiled at Callie. “So, my lady got a promotion, we should celebrate tonight. Pizza and a movie, then we can put Sofia to bed and I’ll show you how proud of you I am.” She winked at Callie and then let out a puff of breathe from her lips. She felt tired.
“That sounds wonderful, babe, but you don’t look so good. Maybe you should go down to the ER and see someone? I mean, I would do it myself, but I have to get to surgery now. And as long as nothing is wrong, then we can definitely celebrate tonight. I just hope you show me how proud you are while wearing no clothing.” Callie grinned and leaned in to press a soft kiss against Arizona’s lips. “Please, go and have April or Cristina check you out? On second thought, not Cristina, maybe try Lexie?” Callie leaned her head slightly as she started to head out of the door. “Please?”
Arizona nodded her head slightly. “Okay, I will, I promise. Go be a rock star, babe.”
“You better believe it.” She waved and then headed to surgery.
Arizona sighed as she worked her way into the ER. She didn’t really want to go through with this, but Callie would strangle her if she went home without know whether or not she was sick. Callie was already put out that Sofia was in the hospital every day, surrounded by other kids that could get her sick; she didn’t want to have to worry about one of her parents getting her sick. Arizona walked to the counter in the ER and was fairly surprised to see a mess on the ground, but not many people standing around. Not many patients either.
Cristina wandered next to her and leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms. “Big trauma came in, Kepner and Avery beat me to the punch.”
“Poor Yang, I guess the scalpel hungry monster will just have to lie in wait for another victim.” Arizona’s shoulders were slumped and she looked around the ER for someone else… Actually, at this point, she would take anyone else.
“You look like shit.”
“Suck it, Yang.”
“Fiesty. What crawled up your ass and died?”
“Look, I feel like I look and Callie said I needed to come down here and get looked at before going home, though I couldn’t tell if she was really worried about me or worried about Sofia, probably the latter, but since you’re here and apparently no one else is, how about you help me out and keep your comments in your head so I can get through this without wanting to cover my ears and sing LALALALA over and over, alright?” Arizona let out a breath and walked to a nearby empty exam room without even checking to see if Cristina was following. She flopped on the exam table just as Cristina walked in.
“That was kind of scary. Did you get a personality transplant? Is that what happens when you get sick?” Cristina had placed her supplies on the small table next to the exam table and quickly applied the tourniquet to Arizona’s arm.
Arizona closed her eyes and sighed softly. “What did I say about talking, Yang!” Arizona snapped and closed her hand into a fist hoping it would help Cristina find a vein quickly and get this over with.
Cristina glanced at Arizona and didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned. She readied a needle, found a vein and quickly worked the needle into Arizona’s arm, drawing several vials of blood and labeling them as she went. She blinked when she heard sniffling and looked at Arizona again. “Are you crying?”
“That hurt.” Arizona sobbed as Cristina removed the tourniquet and wiped the injection site. She then applied a band aid over it. Arizona used her sleeve to wipe her eyes quickly and then lay back on the exam table. She closed her eyes.
“It was just a needle stick.” Cristina cleared her throat and went through some standard questions and then nodded. “I’m going to personally take these to the lab and have them put a rush on these.”
“Okay, come to my office when you get them, I’m going to go take a nap.” Arizona just walked off and left Cristina standing there. Cristina opened her mouth slightly, wondering what just happened. Arizona wasn’t particularly nice or perky and she cried through half the exam. “What the hell was that?”
“Hey!” Callie called from Arizona’s chair in her office when she walked in. “I was wondering where you went off too, my surgery got pushed so I came back so we can do that examination.”
“Callie, I’m too tired to play doctor right now.” Arizona flopped on the couch on the left wall of her office and kicked off her shows before pulling her legs up and lying down. She yawned and pulled one of the pillows that sat on the couch under her head.
Callie chuckled and shook her head. “No, I meant an actual examination.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, I had Cristina do it and she’s getting the lab work done now.”
“Really? Cristina? I told you to tell Lexie to do it.”
“Well, Callie,” Arizona snapped, “I would have loved to have Lexie or April or someone that wasn’t a scalpel hungry robot help me out, but a massive trauma had come in and no one else was available, so I took what I could get it.” Arizona then groaned and grabbed her stomach. “And these cramps are just not going away.”
“Oooh, is that why you’re kind of being bitchy today? Did your period start? You know, it was only our first try and we knew the chances of it working the first time were really slim. There’s no reason to take it out on everyone else, or me for that matter. I mean, we took those home tests over two weeks ago, they were all negative. We followed the instructions, so I just assumed you weren’t pregnant.” Callie frowned and headed toward the couch. She moved the pillow away from under Arizona’s head and slid her body there so that Arizona’s head was lying in her lap. She gently started brushing her fingers through Arizona’s hair. “We’ll try again as soon as you want too, okay?”
Arizona closed her eyes and sighed as Callie comforted her. “To answer your question, no, my period didn’t start, but my stomach has been bothering me all day. I mean, it started with me throwing up before the alarm even went off.” Arizona sniffled once and then started to feel tears well up in her eyes. “You think I’m being bitchy?”
Just then, stomping was heard heading toward the office and the both looked up as Cristina threw the door open and looked at them while standing at the doorframe. “Thank god, Blondie is pregnant; otherwise I was going to start calling priests to do exorcisms because bitchy Blondie is worse than perky Blondie. By the way, nothing else is wrong; you’re obnoxiously healthy. But you know, at first, I was thinking tumor or maybe some mental disease, because she was totally acting the part.” By the time she finished her rant, she realized she was being ignored.
“I’m pregnant?” Arizona blinked and looked up at Callie.
“We’re pregnant!” Callie’s smile was radiant and she leaned down to kiss Arizona.
Callie and Arizona looked at each other and they both started giggling, then Arizona started crying and she sat up and curled herself into Callie’s side. “I’m pregnant and this means Sofia is going to have a little brother or sister and… and… and, oh, Calliope, we need to move. How are we going to live in that little apartment with two tiny humans? There’s so much we still need to do, this wasn’t supposed to happen on the first try! All those tests were negative when we took them!”
Cristina blinked and tilted her head and then laughed at loud while pointing at Callie. “Seriously, you wanted her pregnant? This is worse than a bi-polar suicide-bomber with an itchy trigger finger.”
Callie’s eyes immediately hit Cristina and started tossing daggers. “You can go now, thanks Cristina.”
“Whatever.” Cristina just shrugged and headed off.
“Arizona.” Callie smiled brightly and turned so that she could look right into Arizona’s eyes. She brought up her right hand and gently caressed Arizona’s cheek before leaning in and kissing her softly. Arizona gasped, amazed that even after being married for four years, Callie had this effect on her. She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach and it reminded her of the life she was now nurturing there. She grabbed Callie’s free hand and took it into her own and brought it to her belly. She smiled at Callie and gently nuzzled her nose against Callie’s. Callie’s fingers twitched slightly before she gently rubbed Arizona’s stomach. “We’re going to have another baby, Arizona. I just can’t wait. I love you.”
Arizona felt herself swooning with Callie’s words. “I love you too, babe.”
A few hours later found Callie sitting by herself at Joe’s. She was relaxing with beer while her mind started entertaining thoughts of the next few months. Was Arizona going to ask her to give up alcohol? She remembered that she never asked Arizona too, but while she was pregnant with Sofia, Arizona refused to drink any. They both shared a cup of coffee in the morning and no other richly caffeinated products. It was Arizona’s way of supporting her through the pregnancy, but Callie wasn’t convinced she could do the same for Arizona. She pouted slightly and started fiddling with her wedding band while thinking of her wonderful wife. She supposed if Arizona didn’t ask her, she would make the offer and hopefully her wonderful wife won’t make her give up caffeine. She could make it without the alcohol.
She felt someone shuffle up behind her and quickly grabbed the beer she had and downed the rest of it in one gulp, then put it back on the bar and dropping some bills on the counter to pay for it.
“Ortho, right?”
Callie blinked and raised a brow suspiciously. This was not the voice of her wife and while the voice was not exactly deep and screaming man, she knew it was a male voice. “Oh, not again…” Callie stood and turned around to face the newcomer.
“Excuse me?” The person cleared his throat and stood awkwardly before her. Callie had to do a double take, because this man looked quite a bit like Arizona. He wasn’t that tall, but she could tell he was about an inch taller than she was. He looked muscular, but with a lanky stature. He had beautiful blue eyes, a shade darker than the eyes she saw every day, and his hair was meticulously combed back and held that way with some type of product; there wasn’t a hair out of place on his head. He had a killer smile and bright white teeth which were perfect. He reminded her of the first Ken doll her mother had bought her when she was a child and she couldn’t hold back a sharp laugh.
“Oh, sorry, nothing, I just had a killer case of déjà vu.” Callie chuckled softly to herself and then nodded. “But yes, you’re right, I’m in orthopedics.” She reached out her hand toward him and introduced herself, “Callie Torres. And you are?”
“Nix Taylor, it’s really a pleasure to meet you. I’m the new attending; I’ll be starting in the next couple days. I just have to iron some things out with Chief Webber.” He took her hand they shook firmly. She noticed that his hands were soft and perfectly groomed, but there was a firmness in his touch that screamed ortho. She grinned at herself, not bothering to attempt to hide the happy fact that she had orthodar and gaydar and they were both screaming in her head.
“So you’re the fresh meat being thrown to the wolves. The interns this year are really ravenous.” She laughed and sat back down on the stool and motioned to the stool next to her, which Nix quickly sat down on.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m pretty much the luckiest ortho doc anywhere for getting this job. It’s mostly due to my sister-in-law putting in a good word for me with Chief Webber. I’ve been following your research since you first published and it’s really made me want to work with you. I’d love to help you in any way I possibly could. Your work is just amazing.” He was gushing and blushed when he realized it, then looked down before laughing. “I’m not really a fanboy or anything, but I just love orthopedics and I want to work with the best, so it brought me here.”
Callie couldn’t help but sit up a bit straighter. She could get used to all this praise and she was genuinely starting to like her new colleague. “As long as you don’t try and take credit for my work.” She winked at him, so he would know it was a joke and they both laughed raucously. “Sister-in-law, you said? Is it someone that works at the hospital?”
“Yeah, my husband’s sister is Teddy Altman. We were thrilled she worked this out, because I was pretty much floundering after we moved here. Greg, my husband, recently was forced to move here for his job and it wasn’t like I could stay in Maryland without him.”
“Oh, you are preaching to the choir. My wife and I had an interesting debacle with Africa.” She snickered and shook her head at the wide-eyed look Nix was offering her.
“Sorry, sorry, my gaydar must be really off. When I first saw you I just didn’t get that vibe, no offense!”
“Oh, none taken, but I assure, I am very, very gay for my hot, hot wife.” The two laughed as the door to the bar was opened and the object of Callie’s thoughts finally walked in holding a fussy two year old in her arms.
“Speaking of my hot, hot wife…” Callie jumped up and headed over to Arizona, who looked completely flustered. She pushed Sofia into Callie’s waiting arms and Callie pressed a kiss to her forehead and then a kiss to Arizona’s lips. Callie then nodded toward the bar where she left her new colleague. Arizona looked over and Callie watched as instant recognition floated over her face.
When Arizona and Nix’s eyes met, they both screamed and jumped. Callie raised a brow and Sofia covered her ears while giggling against her Mama. She watched as Nix jumped up, ran over and practically jumped into Arizona’s arms, wrapping his legs around her waist and arms around her shoulders in a tight hug while she spun him around. When the spinning was through, he dropped his feet to the ground and leaned back to look at her and they both screamed again, which made Sofia giggle again. They both hugged again tightly.
“Oh my god, Arizonona! Nona Nona! I can’t believe it! Oh my goodness, don’t you just look beautiful. And you haven’t aged a bit!”
Arizona was grinning widely while looking her old friend over. “Fifi Taylor! How long has it been? I can’t remember seeing you since that huge party after graduation!” The two old friends wrapped their arms around each other and hugged tightly again.
Callie watched the two and looked down at Sofia with a grin, “It’s a good thing your Mama is very secure in her relationship to your Mommy, otherwise she might be a little put out by this.”
“Oh, Calliope, I’m sorry.” Arizona started laughing as she looked her old friend over. “Calliope, this is Phoenix Taylor. We lived next door to each other for basically our entire childhoods. I’m sure I’ve told you stories of the trouble we got into. We did basically everything together. We even acted as each other beards in high school. We knew we were meant to be best friends growing up because of our names and our parents never let us forget it.” All three adults were laughing which caused Sofia to start laughing and clapping in Callie’s arms.
“Nona, is this your little girl?” Nix was smiling at Sofia and she giggled and shyly curled her head into Callie’s neck. All three adults cooed at how cute she was.
“Yes, that is our daughter Sofia and she’s not supposed to be in the bar.” They all stepped outside, since they were already blocking the entrance to the bar while talking.
Arizona slid her arm around Callie’s waist as they stood outside and Nix raised his brow toward her. “That is your daughter, Nona?”
Callie blinked at hearing the question asked again and glanced at her partner. Arizona threw her head back with a laugh. She gently brushed her hand through Sofia’s dark curls and nodded. “Yep, this is my daughter,” Arizona spoke the words while bursting with pride.
“I can’t believe it. Arizona “Tie-My-Tubes” Robbins… is a mother.”
“With another bun in the oven too,” Callie grinned and rested her free hand against Arizona’s stomach. Arizona nodded and blushed at the comment.
“Congratulations!” Nix pulled the whole family into his arms and hugged them warmly. Little Sofia giggled at the attention and then patted Arizona’s shoulder and pointed to the building where they lived. “Home!”
“That’s right, baby girl.” Arizona gave Sofia a kiss on the back of her head before turning back to Nix, “We live across the street, why don’t come over for a few minutes and we can catch up?”
“I probably shouldn’t today; Greg is waiting for me at the hospital. We’re going out with his sister for dinner tonight. Look, I have Callie’s number from the Chief, I’ll text her and you guys can add me to your phones and we’ll work out a time to get together.”
“That sounds great, Fifi!” Arizona wrapped her arms around him again and they both laughed.
“Gosh, no one has called me that in years.”
“I could say the same thing.” They both laughed and then Nix excused himself and headed to the hospital as Arizona and Callie started walking home.
“Arizonona?” Callie snickered and reached out to hold her wife’s hand.
“Oh god, stop,” laughed Arizona, “It’s a long story and one I’m not prepared to get into now. We have celebrating we’re supposed to do tonight.” She winked at Callie and leaned over to press a soft kiss to her cheek.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13 (I’m terrible at rating these things)
Summary: Callie’s promotion brings a man from Arizona’s past back into her life. This is my first venture into an AU fiction. There are small things that do come from the show, but nothing is spoilery.
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. Please don't sue me.
A/N: I’m gonna be completely honest here. I know nothing about pregnancy and I’ve never had the desire to have children, but I super really want Callie and Arizona too. So yeah, this might not be exactly how pregnancies go and maybe I’m embellishing just how much the hormone changes are going to effect and I’ll probably be off on how quick those hormones effect the afflicted, but it’s how the story is going and I’m gonna stick to it. :D The ideas in came from me and jj_280391 so this was basically written by us both.
A/N 2: This is meant to be fluffy and fun, so I hope it comes across that way. Please leave a comment, whether or not you like it, because comments are love and fuel future writing. I'm a beast that needs fueeeeel! Rawr!
Callie Torres grinned to herself as she sauntered into the Chief’s office. She quickly curbed her swagger when she saw him sitting behind his desk. “You wanted to see me, Chief?” He glanced up and nodded, then waved his arm toward the chair in front of him.
“Yes, Dr. Torres. Please, have a seat.” He waited until Callie was seated and then sat up and smiled at her. “I’m going to cut to the chase here, Torres. Your research is amazing, you log more OR hours than any other attending in Orthopedics, your work and teaching is spectacular and you bring in a lot of famous clientele here. It’s been great for the hospital and our ranking has shown improvement ever since we promoted you to attending.”
Callie sat up in her chair, she was enjoying the praise. She’d been an attending for three years now and her life really couldn’t be better. She had a gorgeous wife and daughter and they were starting to work toward kid number two. Callie was excited that Arizona had finally given in and was in shock when she asked to carry the child. She just couldn’t wait for her mini-Arizona and was so excited for her mini-me to have a sibling.
“Well, you may not be aware, but Dr. Chang has finally given me his letter of resignation, so with that, I’d like to offer you the position of Head of Orthopedics. I’m positive you can take on the additional responsibilities and keep the ortho wing running smoothly. We both know you’ve been doing it for quite a while already, but now you’ll have the title and the pay.” He pushed a contract toward her on the table.
She reached out and picked up the contract and did her best to control her breathing. Taking the position would give her a healthy pay raise, not that she wasn’t already making a large salary. Her wife, as Head of Pediatrics, made quite a bit more, but this would make them practically even. She felt herself fill with pride and shook her head slightly before laughing. “I can’t thank you enough, Chief. This vote of confidence is really appreciated.”
“You earned it, Torres,” the Chief smiled and handed her a pen.
Callie quickly signed her name and then stood up to shake the Chief’s hand. It was firm and quick and she just couldn’t hide the grin on her face. “Your new attending will be joining us within the week.”
She nodded and headed out of the Chief’s office and then did a quick jump in the air while pumping her fist above her head. “Yes!” She heard the Chief laughing behind her and turned to give him a sheepish smile and then headed to the elevator to find her wife and give her the news.
Meanwhile, Arizona was standing at the nurses’ station in peds writing in a chart for a patient she was just admitting. She heard footsteps behind her and felt her heart start to race, hoping it was her beautiful wife. She finished her note as the feet made their way next to her. “Hey!” She pouted and turned to Teddy and then sighed softly. “Hey.” She offered a weak wave and then turned back to her chart.
“Oh jeeze, don’t be so happy to see me.” Teddy crossed her arms over her chest.
“Sorry, sorry, I thought you were Callie. She had to go see the Chief this morning and was kind of freaked, so I gave her a pep talk and I just thought you were her coming to tell me what’s going on.” Arizona bit her bottom lip while she made another note in the chart and then shut it and handed it off to a nurse behind the station with a quick thank you.
“Well, this might have something to do with that, actually. My brother just called and told me that his husband just got a job here. I had talked to the Chief about Nix a few weeks ago, because Greg had to move here when he made partner in his law firm.”
“You never told me your brother was gay.”
“It’s not like it’s something I bring up in everyday conversation, do you?”
“No, I guess not.” Arizona rolled her eyes and leaned her hip against the counter; she snapped her tongue against her lips and frowned. She felt water starting to pool in her eyes and turned her face away from Teddy.
“Are you crying?” Teddy reached out and put her hand on Arizona’s forearm. She tilted her slightly so she could get a better look at Arizona’s face. “I wasn’t trying to hide it; I just never had reason to bring it up before. And it just seems like something big must be happening, if the Chief called in Callie and Nix was recently hired.” Teddy shrugged slightly.
“No, no! You’re right, Teddy, absolutely right. I’m really glad for your brother and his husband.” She sniffled and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I just thought…” Arizona narrowed her eyes at Teddy and then pointed at her accusingly. “I just thought we were closer friends than that, but now I just realize, I don’t really think I know all that much about you.” She then slapped the counter with her free hand and shook her slightly. “Whatever!” She offered the narrowed eyes at Teddy again and then stomped off, the wheels on the back of her shoes clacking loudly throughout the hallway. She disappeared into her office moments later.
Teddy stood there befuddled and looked at the nurse that was standing behind the counter. The nurse’s mouth was on the floor and Teddy shrugged her arms slightly. “What the hell was that?” Teddy stood there for another moment and then made her way into a nearby room, where there was a child with a heart condition.
Callie burst into Arizona’s office about fifteen minutes later. “Oh my god, babe, you will never believe what happened to me! The Chief wasn’t angry with me about the pro-bono case I did last week; in fact, he told me I was awesome and made the hospital better and then offered me a promotion! Dr. Chang retired! I am the new Head of Orthopedics!” She presented herself in the center of Arizona’s office with jazz hands and then started dancing, doing cheesy things like ‘the running man’ and following it with the ‘raise the roof’.
“That’s great, Calliope.” Arizona sniffled and then clapped a couple times. “I’m so excited for you.” She managed to get the words out before she burst into another loud sob. She leaned over her knees in her chair and covered her face with her hands. “That’s just so terrific, two department heads in one family. We’re such overachievers.” Those last words were barely heard from behind Arizona’s hands.
Callie blinked and then quickly headed over to Arizona, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands into her own. “Hey, hey, Arizona, babe, please tell me what’s wrong?” Callie was concerned. After lowering Arizona’s hands, she held them both with her right hand and raised her left hand to gently brush away Arizona’s tears.
“I don’t know Teddy at all! I thought we were friends. But she has this whole entire life that I know nothing about, like her gay brother and his husband and I just, I thought we were friends!” Arizona leaned forward and rested her head against Callie’s shoulder and gripped Callie’s hands tightly.
Callie leaned her head against Arizona’s and then gently kissed her temple. “You are friends, but friends don’t tell each other everything, babe. I mean, it took you and me over a year to have an argument over children. That should’ve been something we cleared up before we got so serious, right? There will be things you don’t know about Teddy, but you are friends, I mean, she did tell you right?”
Arizona nodded slightly and turned her head so that she could press a soft kiss against Callie’s neck. “You always know what to say to me.”
“That’s because I love you.” Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona and blinked. “How are you feeling, babe? You feel like you have a fever?” Callie moved her hand over Arizona’s forehead and then leaned back a bit to look at her face. She was flushed and looked tired.
“I’ve been feeling tired all day, honestly. And I snapped at Teddy and I feel kind of guilty about it.” She leaned back in her chair and smiled at Callie. “So, my lady got a promotion, we should celebrate tonight. Pizza and a movie, then we can put Sofia to bed and I’ll show you how proud of you I am.” She winked at Callie and then let out a puff of breathe from her lips. She felt tired.
“That sounds wonderful, babe, but you don’t look so good. Maybe you should go down to the ER and see someone? I mean, I would do it myself, but I have to get to surgery now. And as long as nothing is wrong, then we can definitely celebrate tonight. I just hope you show me how proud you are while wearing no clothing.” Callie grinned and leaned in to press a soft kiss against Arizona’s lips. “Please, go and have April or Cristina check you out? On second thought, not Cristina, maybe try Lexie?” Callie leaned her head slightly as she started to head out of the door. “Please?”
Arizona nodded her head slightly. “Okay, I will, I promise. Go be a rock star, babe.”
“You better believe it.” She waved and then headed to surgery.
Arizona sighed as she worked her way into the ER. She didn’t really want to go through with this, but Callie would strangle her if she went home without know whether or not she was sick. Callie was already put out that Sofia was in the hospital every day, surrounded by other kids that could get her sick; she didn’t want to have to worry about one of her parents getting her sick. Arizona walked to the counter in the ER and was fairly surprised to see a mess on the ground, but not many people standing around. Not many patients either.
Cristina wandered next to her and leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms. “Big trauma came in, Kepner and Avery beat me to the punch.”
“Poor Yang, I guess the scalpel hungry monster will just have to lie in wait for another victim.” Arizona’s shoulders were slumped and she looked around the ER for someone else… Actually, at this point, she would take anyone else.
“You look like shit.”
“Suck it, Yang.”
“Fiesty. What crawled up your ass and died?”
“Look, I feel like I look and Callie said I needed to come down here and get looked at before going home, though I couldn’t tell if she was really worried about me or worried about Sofia, probably the latter, but since you’re here and apparently no one else is, how about you help me out and keep your comments in your head so I can get through this without wanting to cover my ears and sing LALALALA over and over, alright?” Arizona let out a breath and walked to a nearby empty exam room without even checking to see if Cristina was following. She flopped on the exam table just as Cristina walked in.
“That was kind of scary. Did you get a personality transplant? Is that what happens when you get sick?” Cristina had placed her supplies on the small table next to the exam table and quickly applied the tourniquet to Arizona’s arm.
Arizona closed her eyes and sighed softly. “What did I say about talking, Yang!” Arizona snapped and closed her hand into a fist hoping it would help Cristina find a vein quickly and get this over with.
Cristina glanced at Arizona and didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned. She readied a needle, found a vein and quickly worked the needle into Arizona’s arm, drawing several vials of blood and labeling them as she went. She blinked when she heard sniffling and looked at Arizona again. “Are you crying?”
“That hurt.” Arizona sobbed as Cristina removed the tourniquet and wiped the injection site. She then applied a band aid over it. Arizona used her sleeve to wipe her eyes quickly and then lay back on the exam table. She closed her eyes.
“It was just a needle stick.” Cristina cleared her throat and went through some standard questions and then nodded. “I’m going to personally take these to the lab and have them put a rush on these.”
“Okay, come to my office when you get them, I’m going to go take a nap.” Arizona just walked off and left Cristina standing there. Cristina opened her mouth slightly, wondering what just happened. Arizona wasn’t particularly nice or perky and she cried through half the exam. “What the hell was that?”
“Hey!” Callie called from Arizona’s chair in her office when she walked in. “I was wondering where you went off too, my surgery got pushed so I came back so we can do that examination.”
“Callie, I’m too tired to play doctor right now.” Arizona flopped on the couch on the left wall of her office and kicked off her shows before pulling her legs up and lying down. She yawned and pulled one of the pillows that sat on the couch under her head.
Callie chuckled and shook her head. “No, I meant an actual examination.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, I had Cristina do it and she’s getting the lab work done now.”
“Really? Cristina? I told you to tell Lexie to do it.”
“Well, Callie,” Arizona snapped, “I would have loved to have Lexie or April or someone that wasn’t a scalpel hungry robot help me out, but a massive trauma had come in and no one else was available, so I took what I could get it.” Arizona then groaned and grabbed her stomach. “And these cramps are just not going away.”
“Oooh, is that why you’re kind of being bitchy today? Did your period start? You know, it was only our first try and we knew the chances of it working the first time were really slim. There’s no reason to take it out on everyone else, or me for that matter. I mean, we took those home tests over two weeks ago, they were all negative. We followed the instructions, so I just assumed you weren’t pregnant.” Callie frowned and headed toward the couch. She moved the pillow away from under Arizona’s head and slid her body there so that Arizona’s head was lying in her lap. She gently started brushing her fingers through Arizona’s hair. “We’ll try again as soon as you want too, okay?”
Arizona closed her eyes and sighed as Callie comforted her. “To answer your question, no, my period didn’t start, but my stomach has been bothering me all day. I mean, it started with me throwing up before the alarm even went off.” Arizona sniffled once and then started to feel tears well up in her eyes. “You think I’m being bitchy?”
Just then, stomping was heard heading toward the office and the both looked up as Cristina threw the door open and looked at them while standing at the doorframe. “Thank god, Blondie is pregnant; otherwise I was going to start calling priests to do exorcisms because bitchy Blondie is worse than perky Blondie. By the way, nothing else is wrong; you’re obnoxiously healthy. But you know, at first, I was thinking tumor or maybe some mental disease, because she was totally acting the part.” By the time she finished her rant, she realized she was being ignored.
“I’m pregnant?” Arizona blinked and looked up at Callie.
“We’re pregnant!” Callie’s smile was radiant and she leaned down to kiss Arizona.
Callie and Arizona looked at each other and they both started giggling, then Arizona started crying and she sat up and curled herself into Callie’s side. “I’m pregnant and this means Sofia is going to have a little brother or sister and… and… and, oh, Calliope, we need to move. How are we going to live in that little apartment with two tiny humans? There’s so much we still need to do, this wasn’t supposed to happen on the first try! All those tests were negative when we took them!”
Cristina blinked and tilted her head and then laughed at loud while pointing at Callie. “Seriously, you wanted her pregnant? This is worse than a bi-polar suicide-bomber with an itchy trigger finger.”
Callie’s eyes immediately hit Cristina and started tossing daggers. “You can go now, thanks Cristina.”
“Whatever.” Cristina just shrugged and headed off.
“Arizona.” Callie smiled brightly and turned so that she could look right into Arizona’s eyes. She brought up her right hand and gently caressed Arizona’s cheek before leaning in and kissing her softly. Arizona gasped, amazed that even after being married for four years, Callie had this effect on her. She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach and it reminded her of the life she was now nurturing there. She grabbed Callie’s free hand and took it into her own and brought it to her belly. She smiled at Callie and gently nuzzled her nose against Callie’s. Callie’s fingers twitched slightly before she gently rubbed Arizona’s stomach. “We’re going to have another baby, Arizona. I just can’t wait. I love you.”
Arizona felt herself swooning with Callie’s words. “I love you too, babe.”
A few hours later found Callie sitting by herself at Joe’s. She was relaxing with beer while her mind started entertaining thoughts of the next few months. Was Arizona going to ask her to give up alcohol? She remembered that she never asked Arizona too, but while she was pregnant with Sofia, Arizona refused to drink any. They both shared a cup of coffee in the morning and no other richly caffeinated products. It was Arizona’s way of supporting her through the pregnancy, but Callie wasn’t convinced she could do the same for Arizona. She pouted slightly and started fiddling with her wedding band while thinking of her wonderful wife. She supposed if Arizona didn’t ask her, she would make the offer and hopefully her wonderful wife won’t make her give up caffeine. She could make it without the alcohol.
She felt someone shuffle up behind her and quickly grabbed the beer she had and downed the rest of it in one gulp, then put it back on the bar and dropping some bills on the counter to pay for it.
“Ortho, right?”
Callie blinked and raised a brow suspiciously. This was not the voice of her wife and while the voice was not exactly deep and screaming man, she knew it was a male voice. “Oh, not again…” Callie stood and turned around to face the newcomer.
“Excuse me?” The person cleared his throat and stood awkwardly before her. Callie had to do a double take, because this man looked quite a bit like Arizona. He wasn’t that tall, but she could tell he was about an inch taller than she was. He looked muscular, but with a lanky stature. He had beautiful blue eyes, a shade darker than the eyes she saw every day, and his hair was meticulously combed back and held that way with some type of product; there wasn’t a hair out of place on his head. He had a killer smile and bright white teeth which were perfect. He reminded her of the first Ken doll her mother had bought her when she was a child and she couldn’t hold back a sharp laugh.
“Oh, sorry, nothing, I just had a killer case of déjà vu.” Callie chuckled softly to herself and then nodded. “But yes, you’re right, I’m in orthopedics.” She reached out her hand toward him and introduced herself, “Callie Torres. And you are?”
“Nix Taylor, it’s really a pleasure to meet you. I’m the new attending; I’ll be starting in the next couple days. I just have to iron some things out with Chief Webber.” He took her hand they shook firmly. She noticed that his hands were soft and perfectly groomed, but there was a firmness in his touch that screamed ortho. She grinned at herself, not bothering to attempt to hide the happy fact that she had orthodar and gaydar and they were both screaming in her head.
“So you’re the fresh meat being thrown to the wolves. The interns this year are really ravenous.” She laughed and sat back down on the stool and motioned to the stool next to her, which Nix quickly sat down on.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m pretty much the luckiest ortho doc anywhere for getting this job. It’s mostly due to my sister-in-law putting in a good word for me with Chief Webber. I’ve been following your research since you first published and it’s really made me want to work with you. I’d love to help you in any way I possibly could. Your work is just amazing.” He was gushing and blushed when he realized it, then looked down before laughing. “I’m not really a fanboy or anything, but I just love orthopedics and I want to work with the best, so it brought me here.”
Callie couldn’t help but sit up a bit straighter. She could get used to all this praise and she was genuinely starting to like her new colleague. “As long as you don’t try and take credit for my work.” She winked at him, so he would know it was a joke and they both laughed raucously. “Sister-in-law, you said? Is it someone that works at the hospital?”
“Yeah, my husband’s sister is Teddy Altman. We were thrilled she worked this out, because I was pretty much floundering after we moved here. Greg, my husband, recently was forced to move here for his job and it wasn’t like I could stay in Maryland without him.”
“Oh, you are preaching to the choir. My wife and I had an interesting debacle with Africa.” She snickered and shook her head at the wide-eyed look Nix was offering her.
“Sorry, sorry, my gaydar must be really off. When I first saw you I just didn’t get that vibe, no offense!”
“Oh, none taken, but I assure, I am very, very gay for my hot, hot wife.” The two laughed as the door to the bar was opened and the object of Callie’s thoughts finally walked in holding a fussy two year old in her arms.
“Speaking of my hot, hot wife…” Callie jumped up and headed over to Arizona, who looked completely flustered. She pushed Sofia into Callie’s waiting arms and Callie pressed a kiss to her forehead and then a kiss to Arizona’s lips. Callie then nodded toward the bar where she left her new colleague. Arizona looked over and Callie watched as instant recognition floated over her face.
When Arizona and Nix’s eyes met, they both screamed and jumped. Callie raised a brow and Sofia covered her ears while giggling against her Mama. She watched as Nix jumped up, ran over and practically jumped into Arizona’s arms, wrapping his legs around her waist and arms around her shoulders in a tight hug while she spun him around. When the spinning was through, he dropped his feet to the ground and leaned back to look at her and they both screamed again, which made Sofia giggle again. They both hugged again tightly.
“Oh my god, Arizonona! Nona Nona! I can’t believe it! Oh my goodness, don’t you just look beautiful. And you haven’t aged a bit!”
Arizona was grinning widely while looking her old friend over. “Fifi Taylor! How long has it been? I can’t remember seeing you since that huge party after graduation!” The two old friends wrapped their arms around each other and hugged tightly again.
Callie watched the two and looked down at Sofia with a grin, “It’s a good thing your Mama is very secure in her relationship to your Mommy, otherwise she might be a little put out by this.”
“Oh, Calliope, I’m sorry.” Arizona started laughing as she looked her old friend over. “Calliope, this is Phoenix Taylor. We lived next door to each other for basically our entire childhoods. I’m sure I’ve told you stories of the trouble we got into. We did basically everything together. We even acted as each other beards in high school. We knew we were meant to be best friends growing up because of our names and our parents never let us forget it.” All three adults were laughing which caused Sofia to start laughing and clapping in Callie’s arms.
“Nona, is this your little girl?” Nix was smiling at Sofia and she giggled and shyly curled her head into Callie’s neck. All three adults cooed at how cute she was.
“Yes, that is our daughter Sofia and she’s not supposed to be in the bar.” They all stepped outside, since they were already blocking the entrance to the bar while talking.
Arizona slid her arm around Callie’s waist as they stood outside and Nix raised his brow toward her. “That is your daughter, Nona?”
Callie blinked at hearing the question asked again and glanced at her partner. Arizona threw her head back with a laugh. She gently brushed her hand through Sofia’s dark curls and nodded. “Yep, this is my daughter,” Arizona spoke the words while bursting with pride.
“I can’t believe it. Arizona “Tie-My-Tubes” Robbins… is a mother.”
“With another bun in the oven too,” Callie grinned and rested her free hand against Arizona’s stomach. Arizona nodded and blushed at the comment.
“Congratulations!” Nix pulled the whole family into his arms and hugged them warmly. Little Sofia giggled at the attention and then patted Arizona’s shoulder and pointed to the building where they lived. “Home!”
“That’s right, baby girl.” Arizona gave Sofia a kiss on the back of her head before turning back to Nix, “We live across the street, why don’t come over for a few minutes and we can catch up?”
“I probably shouldn’t today; Greg is waiting for me at the hospital. We’re going out with his sister for dinner tonight. Look, I have Callie’s number from the Chief, I’ll text her and you guys can add me to your phones and we’ll work out a time to get together.”
“That sounds great, Fifi!” Arizona wrapped her arms around him again and they both laughed.
“Gosh, no one has called me that in years.”
“I could say the same thing.” They both laughed and then Nix excused himself and headed to the hospital as Arizona and Callie started walking home.
“Arizonona?” Callie snickered and reached out to hold her wife’s hand.
“Oh god, stop,” laughed Arizona, “It’s a long story and one I’m not prepared to get into now. We have celebrating we’re supposed to do tonight.” She winked at Callie and leaned over to press a soft kiss to her cheek.