Phoenix Rising (7/?)
TITLE: Phoenix Rising (7/?)
AUTHOR: Melificent811
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: Callie/Erica...
SUMMARY: A series written as a sequel to my story “I Will Be” Part 1 and Part 2. (Although this is a stand-alone story, it would make a lot more sense if you read “I Will Be” first.) On the day of their wedding, Callie and Erica look back on the journey they took after they decided to fix what they had broken.
DISCLAIMER: On my journal sidebar.
A/N: For the sake of this story, we're going to pretend that prop 8 never passed in California and same sex couples are still able to legally marry.
CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO, CHAPTER THREE, CHAPTER FOUR, CHAPTER FIVE, CHAPTER SIX
******
A little over a year ago…
Callie tossed her pen onto the open text book in her lap, slightly frustrated that there weren’t nearly enough hours in the day to accomplish everything she had set her mind to. Despite the fact that her boards were less than twenty four hours away, she had stubbornly refused to give up any surgeries or hand off a single post-op patient for her interns to handle. With Callie it was always all or nothing… Greatness was paramount and mediocrity was completely out of the question.
It had always been her distinguishing strength and her undeniable curse.
Unable to continue her studies Callie stared blankly ahead, her brain already reaching a point of intellectual saturation. This is how she had spent the better part of the late afternoon, tucked away in an empty on call room surrounded by nothing but a mountain of medical texts and silence.
Leaning back into the not so comfortable pillow, she allowed her heavy eyes to close. Perhaps coming in at five in the morning for a routine knee reconstruction was not such a good idea. Reluctantly Callie turned onto her side, allowing the heavy book to slide off her hip into a heap on the floor next to the bed. Maybe a few minutes of shut eye would be enough to recharge her depleted batteries.
The sound of the doorknob opening interrupted the peaceful silence of the room. The woman peeked her head in, amused by the sleeping figure rhythmically breathing in and out on the bed across from the door. She smiled as she slowly entered the room, making sure not to make a noise that would wake her.
The blonde couldn’t help but notice the complete state of dishevelment of the closet of a room. Piles of dog eared, notated, and highlighted books were strewn across the floor. Notepads and loose leaf sheets of paper containing practically unreadable scribbles of notes cluttered what empty space on the floor was left. The only piece of tidy real estate consisted of the stacks of neatly scripted flashcards that lay in meticulously organized piles on the bedside table.
Quietly picking up a few tossed away books, she made a path to the bed and lay beside the sleeping form. Wanting to feel her closeness, she snaked her arm around her waist and burrowed her nose into curly raven tresses. Even though she was hundreds of miles away from her house, being so close to Callie always made her feel like she was coming home.
Feeling the comforting warmth of a familiar embrace, the darker woman slowly turned and let her eyes flutter open. Pools of topaz brown finally meeting sapphire blue. “Either I’m still dreaming or I’ve been magically transported down to LA…”
“I got into town an hour ago…” Erica propped her head up from the pillow and used her fingers to brush a few errant curls away from the other woman’s sleep ridden eyes. “Figured you might need a little help studying for your big day. From the looks of this place, I can see that my instincts were right…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about… I have it completely under control.” Callie smirked sleepily as she watched her lover shake her head in amusement. “How’d you know I was here?”
“I stopped by the apartment first but Yang told me you hadn’t come home yet. Bailey ran into me when I walked into the lobby. She said the last time she saw you was when you locked yourself in here at five in the afternoon.”
Fighting back the urge to yawn, she inquired, “What time is it now?”
“It’s almost eleven…”
“What!?!” Callie’s eyes instantly widened, realizing that she had lost precious minutes (maybe even hours) of studying time. As if taken over by a demonic force, she found her hands wildly flailing and grasping for the closest text book, stack of notes, or flashcards she could get her empty paws on. With the test a few hours away, this was no time to be slacking!
Erica slowly sat up besides her lover in a state of shocked amusement, watching the whirlwind of body parts attempting to move around her. Finally seeing that there was no other way the beautiful woman sitting next to her would calm down, she snaked her arms around Callie’s waist and rested her lips millimeters away from her ear.
“Baby…”
Feeling her lover’s breathy whisper hit her sensitive flesh, the raven haired woman slowly began to stop flailing and settled into Erica’s arms. “MmmHmm….”
“Just breathe…” After giving the darker woman a moment to slow down, the blonde lifted her hand, gently rested it onto Callie’s cheek, and pulled her in for a soft kiss. Reluctantly parting lips, the pair rested their foreheads against each other, soaking in the warmth of each other’s embrace. “Cal, you are SO ready for this… You know that, right?”
“Yeah…” Callie responded, her voice barely coming out as a whisper.
“Then no more studying… Let me take you home so you can get some real sleep.”
Though Callie was still a bit reluctant to finally let her mind rest, she whole heartedly knew that the women who held her in her arms would not have torn her away from her studies if she wasn’t one hundred percent ready. The wonderful thing about having someone who knows every intimate aspect of your persona is that they instinctively know when to push and when to stand aside. It constantly amazes her how quickly Erica had mastered the art of taming the Torres temper.
Knowing that her lover was right to pull her away from the cavernous existence she had burrowed into, the Callie simply conceded. In a state of silent understanding, the pair spent a few minutes gathering the younger woman’s belongings and headed out to the car. Books and notes would stay in the trunk so the eager resident would have no choice but to spend the entire night wrapped securely in her lover’s embrace.
Truthfully, Callie couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night before the big exam.
The nighttime quickly passed as the couple spent precious slumbering hours locked in an impenetrable embrace. Before Callie could begin to enjoy the fact that her currently long-distance girlfriend had graced her life with a surprise visit, she found herself sitting in the passenger seat waiting to be delivered to the hospital’s front door.
As the distance from the apartment and the hospital closed, Callie started to feel the nerves begin to flitter in the base of her stomach. This was it - the most important day of her career as a resident. No surgeries, no consults, no post-op patients to attend to. All she had to look forward to was quality time with an ungodly thick exam book and scantron form… Game On!
“You look so serious…” Erica glanced over from the driver’s seat as she brought the car to a stop at the last red light before the hospital. “No one would ever suspect that your loving girlfriend flew all the way from LA to pay you a surprise visit.”
Callie turned and watched as a grin formed across the blonde’s face. The morning sun streamed through the driver’s side window, highlighting the curly golden locks of her hair. She looked like an angel… Callie’s own personal angel.
“I’m sorry… I’m just nervous.”
“Well don’t be.” The lighter woman released her right hand from the steering wheel and gently placed it on Callie’s thigh, lightly rubbing her thumb in soothing circles. “I said this last night and I’m going to say it again. You are SO ready for this.”
“Can’t I just flip through my flash cards one last time?”
“No,” Pulling the car to a stop in the hospital turnaround, Erica put the car in park. “Because we’re here…”
Callie watched, a questioning look strewn across her face, as her girlfriend retrieved something from behind the driver’s seat. “What’s this?”
“Nothing special… just a few exam day essentials…” The lighter woman smiled, as she tossed the small paper bag into her lover’s lap. “Now get out of here before you’re late.”
“Yes MOM.” Callie laughed as the woman next to her snarled in protest. She reached forward and cupped the blonde woman’s cheek, pulling her in for an innocently sweet kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
After reluctantly separating herself from the car, Callie made her way through the already crowded halls of the hospital and into the small lecture hall where the exam was being held. Eying a seat at the far end of the room she settled in, tossing her jacket over the back of the seat and her purse into a heap on the floor. Curious about the contents of the paper bag, she placed it onto the desk and gingerly unrolled the fold on the top.
Her inquisitive eyes were instantly greeted by a folded white piece of paper. Curious about what it said, Callie grabbed it and quickly unfolded it, holding the edges of it with her fingertips. Her heart instantly warmed. What she saw before her eyes was infinitely better than holding the much rumored test answer key.
To my beautiful Cal,
Good luck on your exams today. I am already SO proud of you for everything you have accomplished. Remember that no matter what happens, you’ll always be my Ortho Rock Star. I love you with all of my heart.
Erica
Over and over, the latina's eyes traveled over the simple yet eloquent words her lover and written for her. Her fingertip slowly grazed the flowing script, feeling every indentation that the pen had left behind. It warmed her heart to know that someone in the world cared so much that she would take the time to write such a wonderfully loving note.
If only the world knew that Erica Hahn was such a hopeless romantic.
Realizing that there were other items in the bag, she placed the note down and peered inside. She instantly smiled as she lifted a small handful of rubber banded pencils - all number two and sharpened to perfection. How did Erica know she would forget to bring one of her own?
Returning her gaze to the remaining contents of the bag, Callie found a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an extra large can of sugar-free Rockstar. Erica made her swear the stuff off when she had drunken one too many on a marathon forty eight hour day. By hour thirty nine, she had already downed can number five and was buzzing like a firefly around a lantern. The blonde's amusement with her lover's predicament ended when she playfully placed a stethoscope onto her chest and listened.
Leave it to an unnaturally fast heart rate to end the caffeine overload induced fun...
Stuck in a fairly silent room, she tried her hardest to fight back a fit of laughter causing a loud snort to come out of her nose. Slightly embarrassed, she smiled and shrugged as the overly stressed residents around her threw her a death stare. As they all re-buried their noses into their piles of study notes, Callie grinned. They're just jealous that no one loved them enough to give them a care package.
“Okay folks. I need you to put away all study materials. All you will need are your number two pencils. A exam booklet and scantron form should already be with you at your desk. Please DO NOT open them until I say so. Testing will begin in about a minute.”
Taking a deep breath, Callie placed her care package on the floor next to her purse. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized that one of the most defining moments of her life was about to begin. Seeing that Erica's note was still laying on the desk in front of her, she quickly folded it and placed it into the front pocket of her scrub shirt. With Erica's words of love and support close to her heart, Callie knew that she would accomplish the greatness she sought.
Hours later Callie sat, impatiently tapping her pencil against the desk as she read the last question in the ungodly thick exam book. She had spent a long and gruelling day proving that she was more than ready to become a board certified doctor. Nothing would please her more than to be finally done with the exam and back in the arms of the woman who was waiting for her at home.
Her gaze hovered over to the window, eyes catching a glint of sunlight that had reflected off the fresh rain that streaked across the window pane. Officially distracted from the exam, her mind wandered to the changes that would happen in the coming weeks.
Nothing excited her more than the fact that she would finally move in with the love of her life. Despite the task at hand, the laundry list of things to do was already forcing its way into her consciousness. Conversations with superiors needed to happen and letters of recommendations had to be written. Time needed to be set aside to find a new job in a new city. Her belongings needed to be packed.
First and foremost, she NEEDED to pass her exam.
“Is everything okay Dr. Torres?”
“Hmm?” Callie instantly snapped to attention, her gaze traveling from the window straight into the proctor’s unforgiving eyes. She nodded as she quickly re-read the question, instinctively knowing that the correct answer was 'A'. Before the proctor could say another word, she penciled in the last answer and handed the stack of papers over to the person hovering over her desk. Offering a quick smile, she gathered her belongings and quietly slinked towards the door, not wanting to disturb the remaining test taking residents.
Callie strode through the hallways of the hospital, her mind already set on collapsing into the comforting embrace of her beautiful blonde angel. As she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, she recognized a familiar figure patiently sitting and flipping through the latest medical journal.
“What're you doing here?” Callie smiled as her feet quickly carried her across the room. “I was just about to walk home. I thought you were going to wait for me there.”
“I know.” The blonde set aside the magazine and rose, easily slipping her arms around the darker woman's waist. “I thought you'd like a ride home after the test turned your brain to mush. So... how did you do?”
“Well....” The raven haired beauty placed her hands on the taller woman's hips, pulling her in so there was no space between them. “We'll see in a week or two. But, I'm feeling really good about the whole thing. Thank you for your little care package, by the way. It came in really handy.”
“Let me guess...” The blonde playfully teased. “You forgot to bring your pencils didn't you?”
“Erica Hahn,” The darker woman's hands slowly slid down her lover's back, fingers settling into the belt loops on the back side of her jeans. “I think you're starting to get to know me a little too well.”
“And I'm sure you wouldn't have it any other way.” She slowly raised her hand to caress the darker woman's cheek, piercing blue eyes diving deeply into pools of dark chocolate. She gently brought her lips towards Callie's, wanting nothing more than to show her all of the love and affection in the world. “I am SO proud of you.”
“Calliope?”
The pair instantly parted at the mention of the latina's full name. Erica watched as Callie's eyes transformed from a look of love and admiration into one of pure terror. There were few things in the world that could throw her world into a loop... hearing that eerily familiar tone of voice behind her was one of them. Willing her frozen feet to move, Callie turned around to confirm that her dreaded suspicions were true.
“Mom?... Dad?”
******
A/N: I know... I'm so evil for leaving you hanging again. The next one won't be that way. I promise! I'm pleasantly surprised that my muse has decided to work in overdrive the last few days. Hopefully I'll get one more chapter out before I go on my 4 day vacation to Puerto Vallarta next Monday (woohoo!!!). Hope you enjoyed this installment. I actually took a lot of pleasure writing this one.
AUTHOR: Melificent811
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: Callie/Erica...
SUMMARY: A series written as a sequel to my story “I Will Be” Part 1 and Part 2. (Although this is a stand-alone story, it would make a lot more sense if you read “I Will Be” first.) On the day of their wedding, Callie and Erica look back on the journey they took after they decided to fix what they had broken.
DISCLAIMER: On my journal sidebar.
A/N: For the sake of this story, we're going to pretend that prop 8 never passed in California and same sex couples are still able to legally marry.
CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO, CHAPTER THREE, CHAPTER FOUR, CHAPTER FIVE, CHAPTER SIX
******
A little over a year ago…
Callie tossed her pen onto the open text book in her lap, slightly frustrated that there weren’t nearly enough hours in the day to accomplish everything she had set her mind to. Despite the fact that her boards were less than twenty four hours away, she had stubbornly refused to give up any surgeries or hand off a single post-op patient for her interns to handle. With Callie it was always all or nothing… Greatness was paramount and mediocrity was completely out of the question.
It had always been her distinguishing strength and her undeniable curse.
Unable to continue her studies Callie stared blankly ahead, her brain already reaching a point of intellectual saturation. This is how she had spent the better part of the late afternoon, tucked away in an empty on call room surrounded by nothing but a mountain of medical texts and silence.
Leaning back into the not so comfortable pillow, she allowed her heavy eyes to close. Perhaps coming in at five in the morning for a routine knee reconstruction was not such a good idea. Reluctantly Callie turned onto her side, allowing the heavy book to slide off her hip into a heap on the floor next to the bed. Maybe a few minutes of shut eye would be enough to recharge her depleted batteries.
The sound of the doorknob opening interrupted the peaceful silence of the room. The woman peeked her head in, amused by the sleeping figure rhythmically breathing in and out on the bed across from the door. She smiled as she slowly entered the room, making sure not to make a noise that would wake her.
The blonde couldn’t help but notice the complete state of dishevelment of the closet of a room. Piles of dog eared, notated, and highlighted books were strewn across the floor. Notepads and loose leaf sheets of paper containing practically unreadable scribbles of notes cluttered what empty space on the floor was left. The only piece of tidy real estate consisted of the stacks of neatly scripted flashcards that lay in meticulously organized piles on the bedside table.
Quietly picking up a few tossed away books, she made a path to the bed and lay beside the sleeping form. Wanting to feel her closeness, she snaked her arm around her waist and burrowed her nose into curly raven tresses. Even though she was hundreds of miles away from her house, being so close to Callie always made her feel like she was coming home.
Feeling the comforting warmth of a familiar embrace, the darker woman slowly turned and let her eyes flutter open. Pools of topaz brown finally meeting sapphire blue. “Either I’m still dreaming or I’ve been magically transported down to LA…”
“I got into town an hour ago…” Erica propped her head up from the pillow and used her fingers to brush a few errant curls away from the other woman’s sleep ridden eyes. “Figured you might need a little help studying for your big day. From the looks of this place, I can see that my instincts were right…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about… I have it completely under control.” Callie smirked sleepily as she watched her lover shake her head in amusement. “How’d you know I was here?”
“I stopped by the apartment first but Yang told me you hadn’t come home yet. Bailey ran into me when I walked into the lobby. She said the last time she saw you was when you locked yourself in here at five in the afternoon.”
Fighting back the urge to yawn, she inquired, “What time is it now?”
“It’s almost eleven…”
“What!?!” Callie’s eyes instantly widened, realizing that she had lost precious minutes (maybe even hours) of studying time. As if taken over by a demonic force, she found her hands wildly flailing and grasping for the closest text book, stack of notes, or flashcards she could get her empty paws on. With the test a few hours away, this was no time to be slacking!
Erica slowly sat up besides her lover in a state of shocked amusement, watching the whirlwind of body parts attempting to move around her. Finally seeing that there was no other way the beautiful woman sitting next to her would calm down, she snaked her arms around Callie’s waist and rested her lips millimeters away from her ear.
“Baby…”
Feeling her lover’s breathy whisper hit her sensitive flesh, the raven haired woman slowly began to stop flailing and settled into Erica’s arms. “MmmHmm….”
“Just breathe…” After giving the darker woman a moment to slow down, the blonde lifted her hand, gently rested it onto Callie’s cheek, and pulled her in for a soft kiss. Reluctantly parting lips, the pair rested their foreheads against each other, soaking in the warmth of each other’s embrace. “Cal, you are SO ready for this… You know that, right?”
“Yeah…” Callie responded, her voice barely coming out as a whisper.
“Then no more studying… Let me take you home so you can get some real sleep.”
Though Callie was still a bit reluctant to finally let her mind rest, she whole heartedly knew that the women who held her in her arms would not have torn her away from her studies if she wasn’t one hundred percent ready. The wonderful thing about having someone who knows every intimate aspect of your persona is that they instinctively know when to push and when to stand aside. It constantly amazes her how quickly Erica had mastered the art of taming the Torres temper.
Knowing that her lover was right to pull her away from the cavernous existence she had burrowed into, the Callie simply conceded. In a state of silent understanding, the pair spent a few minutes gathering the younger woman’s belongings and headed out to the car. Books and notes would stay in the trunk so the eager resident would have no choice but to spend the entire night wrapped securely in her lover’s embrace.
Truthfully, Callie couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night before the big exam.
The nighttime quickly passed as the couple spent precious slumbering hours locked in an impenetrable embrace. Before Callie could begin to enjoy the fact that her currently long-distance girlfriend had graced her life with a surprise visit, she found herself sitting in the passenger seat waiting to be delivered to the hospital’s front door.
As the distance from the apartment and the hospital closed, Callie started to feel the nerves begin to flitter in the base of her stomach. This was it - the most important day of her career as a resident. No surgeries, no consults, no post-op patients to attend to. All she had to look forward to was quality time with an ungodly thick exam book and scantron form… Game On!
“You look so serious…” Erica glanced over from the driver’s seat as she brought the car to a stop at the last red light before the hospital. “No one would ever suspect that your loving girlfriend flew all the way from LA to pay you a surprise visit.”
Callie turned and watched as a grin formed across the blonde’s face. The morning sun streamed through the driver’s side window, highlighting the curly golden locks of her hair. She looked like an angel… Callie’s own personal angel.
“I’m sorry… I’m just nervous.”
“Well don’t be.” The lighter woman released her right hand from the steering wheel and gently placed it on Callie’s thigh, lightly rubbing her thumb in soothing circles. “I said this last night and I’m going to say it again. You are SO ready for this.”
“Can’t I just flip through my flash cards one last time?”
“No,” Pulling the car to a stop in the hospital turnaround, Erica put the car in park. “Because we’re here…”
Callie watched, a questioning look strewn across her face, as her girlfriend retrieved something from behind the driver’s seat. “What’s this?”
“Nothing special… just a few exam day essentials…” The lighter woman smiled, as she tossed the small paper bag into her lover’s lap. “Now get out of here before you’re late.”
“Yes MOM.” Callie laughed as the woman next to her snarled in protest. She reached forward and cupped the blonde woman’s cheek, pulling her in for an innocently sweet kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
After reluctantly separating herself from the car, Callie made her way through the already crowded halls of the hospital and into the small lecture hall where the exam was being held. Eying a seat at the far end of the room she settled in, tossing her jacket over the back of the seat and her purse into a heap on the floor. Curious about the contents of the paper bag, she placed it onto the desk and gingerly unrolled the fold on the top.
Her inquisitive eyes were instantly greeted by a folded white piece of paper. Curious about what it said, Callie grabbed it and quickly unfolded it, holding the edges of it with her fingertips. Her heart instantly warmed. What she saw before her eyes was infinitely better than holding the much rumored test answer key.
To my beautiful Cal,
Good luck on your exams today. I am already SO proud of you for everything you have accomplished. Remember that no matter what happens, you’ll always be my Ortho Rock Star. I love you with all of my heart.
Erica
Over and over, the latina's eyes traveled over the simple yet eloquent words her lover and written for her. Her fingertip slowly grazed the flowing script, feeling every indentation that the pen had left behind. It warmed her heart to know that someone in the world cared so much that she would take the time to write such a wonderfully loving note.
If only the world knew that Erica Hahn was such a hopeless romantic.
Realizing that there were other items in the bag, she placed the note down and peered inside. She instantly smiled as she lifted a small handful of rubber banded pencils - all number two and sharpened to perfection. How did Erica know she would forget to bring one of her own?
Returning her gaze to the remaining contents of the bag, Callie found a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an extra large can of sugar-free Rockstar. Erica made her swear the stuff off when she had drunken one too many on a marathon forty eight hour day. By hour thirty nine, she had already downed can number five and was buzzing like a firefly around a lantern. The blonde's amusement with her lover's predicament ended when she playfully placed a stethoscope onto her chest and listened.
Leave it to an unnaturally fast heart rate to end the caffeine overload induced fun...
Stuck in a fairly silent room, she tried her hardest to fight back a fit of laughter causing a loud snort to come out of her nose. Slightly embarrassed, she smiled and shrugged as the overly stressed residents around her threw her a death stare. As they all re-buried their noses into their piles of study notes, Callie grinned. They're just jealous that no one loved them enough to give them a care package.
“Okay folks. I need you to put away all study materials. All you will need are your number two pencils. A exam booklet and scantron form should already be with you at your desk. Please DO NOT open them until I say so. Testing will begin in about a minute.”
Taking a deep breath, Callie placed her care package on the floor next to her purse. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized that one of the most defining moments of her life was about to begin. Seeing that Erica's note was still laying on the desk in front of her, she quickly folded it and placed it into the front pocket of her scrub shirt. With Erica's words of love and support close to her heart, Callie knew that she would accomplish the greatness she sought.
Hours later Callie sat, impatiently tapping her pencil against the desk as she read the last question in the ungodly thick exam book. She had spent a long and gruelling day proving that she was more than ready to become a board certified doctor. Nothing would please her more than to be finally done with the exam and back in the arms of the woman who was waiting for her at home.
Her gaze hovered over to the window, eyes catching a glint of sunlight that had reflected off the fresh rain that streaked across the window pane. Officially distracted from the exam, her mind wandered to the changes that would happen in the coming weeks.
Nothing excited her more than the fact that she would finally move in with the love of her life. Despite the task at hand, the laundry list of things to do was already forcing its way into her consciousness. Conversations with superiors needed to happen and letters of recommendations had to be written. Time needed to be set aside to find a new job in a new city. Her belongings needed to be packed.
First and foremost, she NEEDED to pass her exam.
“Is everything okay Dr. Torres?”
“Hmm?” Callie instantly snapped to attention, her gaze traveling from the window straight into the proctor’s unforgiving eyes. She nodded as she quickly re-read the question, instinctively knowing that the correct answer was 'A'. Before the proctor could say another word, she penciled in the last answer and handed the stack of papers over to the person hovering over her desk. Offering a quick smile, she gathered her belongings and quietly slinked towards the door, not wanting to disturb the remaining test taking residents.
Callie strode through the hallways of the hospital, her mind already set on collapsing into the comforting embrace of her beautiful blonde angel. As she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, she recognized a familiar figure patiently sitting and flipping through the latest medical journal.
“What're you doing here?” Callie smiled as her feet quickly carried her across the room. “I was just about to walk home. I thought you were going to wait for me there.”
“I know.” The blonde set aside the magazine and rose, easily slipping her arms around the darker woman's waist. “I thought you'd like a ride home after the test turned your brain to mush. So... how did you do?”
“Well....” The raven haired beauty placed her hands on the taller woman's hips, pulling her in so there was no space between them. “We'll see in a week or two. But, I'm feeling really good about the whole thing. Thank you for your little care package, by the way. It came in really handy.”
“Let me guess...” The blonde playfully teased. “You forgot to bring your pencils didn't you?”
“Erica Hahn,” The darker woman's hands slowly slid down her lover's back, fingers settling into the belt loops on the back side of her jeans. “I think you're starting to get to know me a little too well.”
“And I'm sure you wouldn't have it any other way.” She slowly raised her hand to caress the darker woman's cheek, piercing blue eyes diving deeply into pools of dark chocolate. She gently brought her lips towards Callie's, wanting nothing more than to show her all of the love and affection in the world. “I am SO proud of you.”
“Calliope?”
The pair instantly parted at the mention of the latina's full name. Erica watched as Callie's eyes transformed from a look of love and admiration into one of pure terror. There were few things in the world that could throw her world into a loop... hearing that eerily familiar tone of voice behind her was one of them. Willing her frozen feet to move, Callie turned around to confirm that her dreaded suspicions were true.
“Mom?... Dad?”
******
A/N: I know... I'm so evil for leaving you hanging again. The next one won't be that way. I promise! I'm pleasantly surprised that my muse has decided to work in overdrive the last few days. Hopefully I'll get one more chapter out before I go on my 4 day vacation to Puerto Vallarta next Monday (woohoo!!!). Hope you enjoyed this installment. I actually took a lot of pleasure writing this one.