Someone Like You [2B/?]
Someone Like You
Authors: camerashy06 & kennedysbitch (Team Couch Potato Chip Squared)
Beta'd by strandedinaber
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Callie/Erica
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer
Summary: When Gary Clark dies before he can reach his final destination, the future of Seattle Grace’s surgical team is unknowingly altered. Without a push to find their way back to each other, Callie and Arizona find their lives rolling in opposite directions. Nearly three years and half a world away later, circumstances find them crashing together again while old feelings begin to resurface amidst a host of new complications.
TRAILER
Click to view***
The morning meeting had gone about as well as Arizona expected it to - not great, not completely awful, either. Webber and Jennings were fully on board, only Erica was going out of her way to make things difficult. Arizona knew she just had to grin and bear it, that Hahn and Stark could complicate things, but she would manage no matter what happened. Her concern was for her patient - not their egos.
It was only noon and she was already exhausted, so she opted for a quick lunch before meeting her patient in the pediatrics wing. She slowed to a tip-toe outside of the room and peeked in to make sure she wasn’t about to wake anybody up. A girl she presumed to be Allison Tanner was in bed with her mother seated beside her, both awake, so she knocked gently on the door frame.
“Mrs. Tanner? Allison?” Arizona stepped inside and gave them a friendly smile. “My name is Dr. Robbins, we spoke on the phone last week?”
The woman rose from her perch on Allison's bed and extended a hand to introduce herself. “Call me Sarah, please. It's nice to finally meet you. We've heard a lot about you from Dr. Webber."
Arizona closed the door behind her to give them some privacy. She gestured for Mrs. Tanner to sit down and pulled up the extra chair across from her, though she remained standing for now. Her focus turned to the scared child eyeballing her from the bed. "It's nice to finally meet you, Allison.”
"Hi," the girl replied shyly.
Arizona smiled at her. “That's a really pretty bow you have in your hair today. Did you make it yourself?”
Allison didn't offer a verbal reply but nodded in agreement. She reached for her mother's hand and Sarah Tanner wrapped it in her own.
“She makes me change the color daily," said the girl’s mother. "Today she wanted to put on her special pink bow just for you, Dr. Robbins. Isn't that right, Ally?”
Arizona’s smile broadened. “Well, Allison, it just so happens that pink is my favorite color,” she teased.
“Really?” The seven-year-old seemed to perk up. “Do you like bows too, Dr. Robbins?”
“I do like bows. And please, you can call me Arizona.” Allison wrinkled her nose and it made Arizona laugh. “I know, it’s silly name, but it’s the one my daddy gave me. I was named after a boat.”
Giggling, Allison beamed up at her mother. “She’s funny.”
Happy to see her patient relaxing, Arizona took the most recent chart from the foot of the bed and looked it over. “How have you been feeling today, Ally? I heard you had a rough night.”
“My tummy hurts,” Allison pouted. “And I couldn’t breathe last night so Mommy brought me here.”
“I’m sorry,” Arizona said, furrowing her brow as she scanned what was scribbled down by a resident. She really needed to get someone on this case that could write legibly. “I’ll see if there’s something I can give you to help your tummy.”
She glanced at Mrs. Tanner. “Did she manage to eat anything this morning?”
Sarah shook her head. “Barely. The only time I can get her to eat something is if it's shaped like some kind of zoo animal. Animal crackers have been a favorite as of late,” she said with a half smile. “She keeps saying she's not hungry and I keep telling her she needs to at least try to eat something. It's an exhausting back and forth." She playfully pinched her daughter, earning a squeak of protest. “You're so stubborn, Ally.”
“I like cookies,” Allison argued. “But they’re not green, so Mommy says I can’t have them right now.”
Arizona liked that Allison was in good spirits despite her situation. She would need that kind of attitude given how many surgeries lay ahead. “Well, we've got her going with a steady dose of IV fluids, so she's staying hydrated at least. I'll see if I can round up some animal crackers after we're done here.”
"Don't want any," the girl said tiredly.
Arizona frowned. “What if we got you some pink jello? It's super yummy. My personal favourite."
Allison hummed. “Jello wiggles.”
“It tastes like watermelon,” Arizona drawled. “I know your mommy would feel so much better if she saw you eat something.”
Allison dropped her gaze, turning shy again. “Okay.”
“Good girl,” Arizona smiled. “In the meantime I’ll try to find a good substitute for animal crackers.”
Sarah looked apprehensive as Arizona checked some of her daughter’s fluid levels and wrote a few things down. She always preferred to let her patients relax around her before launching into the medical stuff. Kids were smarter than a lot of doctors gave them credit for, they knew what was going on around them.
“So,” Arizona started. “I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of scary doctor talk over the last few weeks. If you have any questions, you can ask me at any time, okay?”
Allison bit her lip. “Are you my doctor now? ‘Cause the other lady was meaner.”
Arizona had to chuckle at that. She couldn’t imagine Erica Hahn handling kids very well - or Stark for that matter. How he became a pediatric surgeon was beyond her. “Yep, I’m your new doctor. Dr. Hahn and Dr. Stark will still be around, but I’m going to be the one taking care of you from now on. Are you okay with that?”
Allison's face lit up. “Yeah! 'Cause you like bows and pink and jello and you don't talk like a robot.”
“Ally!” Sarah admonished. “I'm sorry, Dr. Robbins. She knows better than to be rude.”
The little girl shrugged in defense. “What? It's true.”
Arizona fought back a laugh. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” she agreed with a playful wink. “Besides, I also heard from one of the nurses that you like to ride horses. I used to ride when I was your age, too.”
Allison’s eyes lit up and for a moment she didn’t look like a sick little girl who had been through hell. “I love horses!”
They spent a few minutes chatting about show jumping and favourite breeds, various world equestrian champions and other nerdy horse stuff. Arizona took the opportunity while Allison was distracted to retake some of her vitals and she switched out IV bags for the afternoon dosage.
When she was confident that Allison was at ease, Arizona took a seat and crossed her legs. “I know you’re probably sick of all this doctor mumbo-jumbo stuff, but if you’re okay with it, I’d like to talk to you and your mom about a few things.”
Allison shot her mother a scared look and Sarah nodded reassuringly. “It’s okay, honey.”
There was no need to go into deeper detail with Allison present; Arizona would talk more extensively with Sarah Tanner when her daughter was asleep. For now she stuck to the basics, about how Allison’s heart was sick and she had a new and kind of cool idea on how to make it better.
“Will it make me throw up again?” the girl pouted. “The other medicine made me throw up a lot.”
“No, this is different than what you went through before,” Arizona said. “The chemotherapy is what made you sick, but this is like medicine specifically for your heart. It’s actually kind of cool because you’re going to use your own cells to heal yourself. Not many people can do that, so you’re a pretty special girl, Ally.”
Allison pushed herself to sit up more. “How?”
“When you were a baby, the doctors kept some of your umbilical cord, which is what connected you and your mom before you were born,” Arizona explained, indicating Allison’s navel. “The tiny cells inside of it are very good at healing sick people, and because they’re yours, they’re perfect for what I need. I’m going to use them to help your heart get better and in the meantime we’re going to try to make more in one of the labs upstairs. Pretty cool, huh?”
Allison frowned, not fully understanding it all but getting the gist of it. The doctor lady seemed happy so that was good enough for her. “Does that mean I’ll get better?
Arizona considered her words carefully. “I’m going to do my very best to make sure that you do,” she said, nodding with encouragement. It was the closest she could come to a promise. “I need you to help me out with a few things along the way.”
Allison bit her lip. “What?”
“First, I need you to promise me that you’ll get lots and lots of sleep. That will give your heart more time to heal.” Arizona lifted a brow. “And secondly, I need you to do your best to eat for me and your mommy. Okay?”
Allison heaved a sigh worthy of Broadway but in the end she agreed to the deal.
Arizona smiled again and turned the subject back to the World Equestrian Games coming up next year. Allison had earned a break for now.
***
Erica was only at the halfway point of her shift and she’d already had it with everyone in the building. She was beyond furious at the state of the Tanner case and none too happy with who was taking over. Robbins was content to butt heads with her on every little detail and it was driving her nuts. She’d never liked the woman to begin with and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. Getting booted from her own case in favour of Arizona was beyond humiliating.
Despite all that, Allison Tanner was still her patient and she wanted to see Sarah Tanner and her daughter. Even if she didn’t agree with the new course of treatment, she wanted to make sure the handover was going smoothly. If it wasn’t, then she wanted to see Robbins crash and burn first hand. Just not at the expense of a child.
Erica stopped herself from bursting through the closed door when she arrived up in pediatrics. She realized that barreling inside, fuming the way she was, would most assuredly get her kicked off the case entirely. So, despite how magnanimously pissed she was at the entire situation, she retreated to the desk and settled for waiting where she could spy through the window of Allison's room.
It came as no surprise that she didn't like what she saw - Robbins had to have been one hell of a comedian judging by how hard Allison and her mother were laughing. That annoyed the hell out of her.
“Stupid bitch,” Erica growled under her breath.
“And just who do you think you're calling names?”
Erica started and whipped around to spot Dr. Bailey behind her.
“Well?” Bailey demanded.
Erica felt a flush of regret at getting caught. “Dr. Bailey, I apologize. I didn't know anyone was here.”
“Mm-hmm.” Bailey’s disapproval failed to dissipate, though she went back to searching for a file on the desk.
Erica knew better than to throw down with Miranda Bailey. There were some fights you were just guaranteed to lose and bickering with her was one of them. Besides, she did respect Bailey as a surgeon and she was one of the few people she liked working with.
“I’m sorry, I am, I’m just frustrated. Richard has completely disregarded my opinion on this case.” Erica shot a nasty look through the window. “And that’s not even the bigger half of it. He calls roller skate Barbie in to take over and makes me look like a fool in the process.”
Bailey hardly glanced up. “Do I look like I want to listen to your problems?”
Erica wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention either. “Robbins, she’s - she’s out of control. Not to mention unprofessional. She argues every single detail to death while refusing to consider my opinions. Bottom line, she’s going to get that little girl killed, I swear it.”
That got Bailey’s attention. “Robbins? You mean Callie’s Robbins?”
Erica looked disgusted. “What kind of serious surgeon wears roller skates for shoes? In a hospital no less.” It didn’t matter to her that there was no sign of said shoes on this visit. Erica remembered them well during their professional crossover.
“You are working with Robbins? Arizona Robbins?” Bailey let out a bark of laughter.
Erica huffed. “That’s funny to you?”
Bailey set her files down, granting her full attention to Erica. “A piece of advice - I hated Robbins when she came here the first time around. It got me nowhere. The Chief likes her, the staff love her, and eventually we even got along. She knows what she’s doing and it sounds like she’s not going anywhere, so you had better suck it up and deal with it. Trust me, it’s a waste of time and energy otherwise. Now leave me alone, I’m busy.”
“She’s already trying to take--”
Bailey stuck her hand out, shushing Erica. “Are you deaf? I am not your therapist. I gave you the one piece of advice that will keep you from getting thrown off the case.” She cocked an eyebrow and waited for Erica to leave. “Just let it go. Focus on your own patients and stop harping on this. Go..”
Erica grumbled unhappily and glanced into Allison’s room one more time. As much as she hated everything that had transpired, Bailey did have a point. It was better she stick around to keep an eye on Robbins than leave all together.
Before she could make a complete fool of herself, Erica pushed off the desk and walked away.
For now.
***
Arizona spent the majority of an hour with Allison and her mother. By the time they were finished discussing the basics, the little girl was exhausted and drifted off to sleep. Arizona recommended that Mrs. Tanner get some rest herself and to make sure she remembered to monitor her own eating habits - they were in for the long haul now and Allison needed her mother by her side, healthy and well-rested.
The kinks were starting to settled in her shoulders when Arizona made her way to the desk Bailey was parked at. “Hey," she said cheerfully, extracting an elastic from her pocket and pulling her hair into a messy ponytail.
"Whatever it is, the answer is no," Bailey said without looking up.
Arizona frowned. "Gee, good to know where I stand today." She fiddled with a stack of paperwork Mrs. Tanner had just signed, organizing it into sections along the countertop.
Bailey was beginning to think she would escape the peds floor without any more people talking at her when Robbins suddenly began to speak again.
"She's avoiding me, you know," Arizona said hesitantly. "Callie. I've seen her twice and all she's done is run away."
"Mm-hm," Bailey murmured. If she acted disinterested, maybe this one would be smart enough to take the hint.
"I mean, okay, when we split it was…hard, but that was nearly three years ago, y'know?" That was the infuriating part. Arizona sighed. "I was hoping we could at least talk. I want to see how she's doing."
Bailey remained silent.
"It would be much less awkward if she just stopped avoiding me and we got it over with. All I wanted to do was say hi." Arizona twirled a pen between her fingers. "What kind of grown woman avoids someone? It's childish."
Realizing that she wasn't about to escape any time soon, Bailey exhaled and set down her pencil. "Look, Torres has a lot going on these days."
"Don't we all," Arizona mumbled unhappily.
"It's a little more complicated than that," Bailey urged. "Just trust me, she's a busy woman and seeing you again was the last thing on her mind. I’m sure you two will talk eventually, so stop talking to me about it instead."
"Yeah, I guess," Arizona allowed. She checked her watch. "I've got a conference call in fifteen minutes with Hopkins, I'd better go grab a coffee if they want me awake for it." She gathered her papers. "If you see Callie, tell her to grow a pair and come talk to me."
Bailey rolled her eyes and watched Arizona go. "Tell her yourself.”
***
Arizona was swept away in a pile of paperwork and formal meetings for the rest of the afternoon, running from one location to the next without so much as a bathroom break in between. It was almost six o’clock by the time her final conference call to the other trial doctors wrapped and she was ready to go home and get some sleep. Technically speaking her 'home' was thousands of miles away on the opposite coast; the temporary living arrangement was a fancy hotel room that lacked the coziness of her old apartment. Other than the mini bar, she had no company and would probably end up watching movies on pay-per-view or something equally as boring.
She was alone in the boardroom and waited for every call line to disconnect with the exception of one. Once they were alone, Arizona took the phone off of speaker and put the receiver to her ear.
”Is it weird?” Karev asked.
Arizona contemplated the numerous ways to answer that. “Weird is one way of putting it. Bizarre and a little uncomfortable is another.”
“Webber will be kissing your ass the whole time you’re there while everyone else wonders what the hell you’re doing back.” Alex sounded amused at his boss’ expense. “Hahn was a nightmare to work with before she left.”
“She hasn’t changed much,” Arizona mumbled. “But the patient is officially under my care, so there’s not a whole lot anyone can do about it. At least the Chief is on my side, same with Jennings.”
“Have you talked to Torres yet?”
Arizona groaned and rubbed her forehead. “No. She’s avoiding me, which…whatever,” she said flippantly. “I’ve got other things on my mind. We don’t need to talk if this is how she feels.”
Alex snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that. That place is cesspool of drama. At some point you two will have a screaming match in public, that’s how it works. Nobody ever does anything in private.”
“How are things over there?” Arizona cut in. They really needed to change the subject. “Are you keeping my peds unit in one piece?” She relaxed into her seat and listened to Alex rattle off a list of things he was dealing with and updates on her patients. Despite the fact that he was still a surgical fellow, she knew this was a good experience for him. He would run the department himself one day.
At one point he covered the speaker on his end and muffled voices reached Arizona’s ears. She waited patiently for him to come back on. “Look, I’ve gotta go. Let me know how things with the kid turn out. Say hi to Torres in between awkward silences.”
“Will do, Karev. Bye.” As soon as they hung up, Arizona dropped her head against the chair and closed her eyes. Today had been absolutely draining.
It took a good thirty seconds before she mustered up the energy to stand and gather her things. There hadn’t been a need to wear scrubs today, so she bypassed the attendings lounge and headed straight for the elevators. Room service, a fluffy white robe and a tiny bottle of liqueur awaited. It was probably fifteen dollars and wouldn’t so much as make her sleepy, but it was something.
Rounding a corner, Arizona immediately set eyes on Callie standing a small distance away. She stopped short. Callie was rummaging through her purse for something, dressed to go home for the day, and had yet to notice her. Arizona debated going back the way she came before her ex looked up - if Callie wanted to avoid all contact, well then, that was her choice. Arizona wasn’t about to force herself on her.
Somehow her brain failed to communicate that to her feet and suddenly she found herself charging ahead, ready to block off Callie’s escape route. Her boots clicked noisily against the floor as she marched on and announced her presence.
Callie barely had time to look up before Arizona appeared out of nowhere and launched into a barrage of accusations.
“You’re avoiding me,” were the first words out of her mouth. To her credit, she kept up the confident appearance even though she was a mess on the inside. “And don’t say that you’re not because I know you are. I’ve seen you popping in and out of my line of vision all day before you disappear in the opposite direction.”
Callie resembled a deer in the headlights of a spaceship, unsure what was happening or how to react. She tried to come up with an appropriate response only for Arizona to barrel full steam ahead.
Arizona knew she would lose her nerve if she didn’t get this out now. “I don’t think you should be avoiding me, Callie. We don’t have to act like things aren’t totally and completely weird with me showing up out of the blue, but avoiding is, is…stupid.” Her frown deepened and she adjusted her purse. “It’s weird for you and it’s weird for me but I’m here and I’m going to be here for a while, so we should just get the weirdness out of the way before it gets any weirder. Okay?” She released a hard breath and wished she hadn’t said ‘weird’ so many times.
Callie’s mouth hovered open long enough for a bird to nest before she settled on ,“Uh...hi?”
The faintest of smiles appeared “Hi,” Arizona echoed. Callie didn’t add anything to her comment, so she tried again. “Look, I’m sorry to jump at you. I’m also sorry for not giving you a heads up that I was coming.” She fiddled with her purse strap for something to do. “It’s been almost three years, I know you’ve moved on and you shouldn’t have to feel like we can’t talk anymore. We can talk, or at least I hope we can. Even if it’s been forever and a part of me was anxious about running into you again, we’ve always been able to talk. We’re good at...at talking.”
They were making a great example of that now, what with her babbling and Callie’s newly-acquired mime routine.
Callie bit her lip, totally blanking on what she was supposed to say to that. Even after a day of thinking about nothing else, she was completely off balance thanks to Arizona’s presence back in Seattle. If she thought she could get away with postponing this conversation until the morning, she would try, but Arizona would probably just chase her down the hallway and tackle her like a linebacker. She was a persistent woman; Callie had always really liked that about her.
Arizona released a shaky breath and held Callie’s gaze, waiting for some kind of response - any kind so long as it didn't involve her hightailing it in the opposite direction. Her initial firestorm of confidence had rapidly fizzled out. "Could you just say something? Please? I’m at a loss here.”
Callie gathered herself and finally found her voice. "I’m sorry, you’re right. You’re right, we should talk. Especially if you’re here for a while, we should definitely...t-talk.” She shot a nervous glance through the window next to them, the one Arizona had yet to notice. “There’s a lot to talk about.”
Well, that was something. Arizona nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, okay. I’m free now, if you want to grab a drink.”
Callie chomped on her bottom lip. “Now isn’t really a good time. Maybe-”
“Dr. Torres, you’re a few minutes early.”
They turned in unison to the source of the voice. Callie closed her eyes while Arizona’s nearly fell out of her head.
One of the daycare workers Arizona recognized brushed by with a tiny human of the infant variety in her arms. She was beaming at Callie and thrust the child she was holding at her.
“She was a little fussy this morning but her afternoon nap seemed to calm her down,” the woman said with a smile, unshouldering a diaper bag and handing it over.
Arizona’s mouth involuntarily hung open, staring at the baby that looked exactly like her ex-girlfriend.
It was safe to say that the ice had been broken.
Callie thanked the attendant and adjusted the child in her arms, then diverted her full attention back to Arizona when they were alone again. By the looks of things, she was having difficulty breathing.
“Arizona,” Callie spoke quietly, feeling most of the tension drain from her limbs. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. This wasn’t how she’d imagined her ex finding out about her new foray into motherhood.
Arizona was stunned. She tried to vocalize her thoughts but was barely able to form them in her head, let alone out loud. Of all the things she had been expecting to return to, this was definitely not one of them. In retrospect, that was pretty dumb on her part.
The infant began to squirm, prompting Callie to lightly bounce her up and down in her arms, earning a squeal of approval. She took one cautious step forward, causing Arizona to have a knee-jerk reaction and retreat back a few inches. Callie's heart sank - she knew Arizona didn't want kids but even for her this was uncharacteristic behavior. She tried to chalk it up to the the ultimate surprise that had just been dropped into her lap. Callie gathered the courage to try this again - she wanted Arizona to know her daughter, even if it was only for a few seconds.
Perched in Callie's warm embrace, the baby looked squarely at the new stranger and giggled an all-gum grin. “Arizona, this is Sofia,” Callie said apprehensively.
It took another two or three seconds but Arizona finally shook out of her stupor. She hadn’t exactly been planning this; her brain had ceased all function the moment she saw that Callie was a mom.
It made perfect sense, of course. Callie wanted a baby and just because Arizona was once a part of her life didn’t mean she expected a formal announcement in the mail. They had broken up because of this very reason. Three years was a long time.
Her gaze drifted from Sofia to Callie and back again. Sofia’s big brown eyes bore into her and Arizona felt just the faintest smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Hi,” she whispered, holding up a hand. Sofia latched onto her index finger.
“Da!” Sofia gave the digit a small tug and snort-giggled, kicking her feet.
Arizona started to feel a little more functional now that the initial shock was wearing off. Her brain was still at a ten on a scale of one to five, but she found her voice.
“She’s beautiful, Calliope,” she said warmly, shaking her head with disbelief. “She looks just like you.” From the eyes to the cheeks to Sofia’s smile, she looked exactly like her momma in miniature form.
“Thanks,” Callie mused, bouncing Sofia again. “I like to think so, right babe?” Sofia babbled her agreement.
Disappointed in her own behavior, Arizona offered the pair an apologetic smile. “Congratulations, Calliope. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Callie shifted a squirmy Sofia in her arms before replying. “Honestly, not many people did. It was something I kept to myself for a while. Y'know, until it became too obvious to hide.” She tugged on Sofia’s foot and chose her next words carefully. She wanted to say this right. “Making the decision to become a single mom was something that weighed on me for quite a while after you left. At first I wasn't totally convinced that I could do it alone. I mean, babies are a ton of work and I didn't have experience to fall back on in case I fell flat on my face.”
“You never fall flat on your face,” Arizona pointed out. “Stumble, maybe, flail a little sometimes, but you have this uncanny ability to kick ass and land on your feet.” She balked at her word choice and shot Sofia a quick look. “Sorry, butt.”
Callie's heart started pounding all over again. “To tell you the truth, I think I was more scared that I wasn't going to have someone to share this wonderful experience with than the fact that I actually had this whole other person to take care of. Stupid, huh?”
That was an odd choice of words. Arizona tilted her head, curious to know more, but Sofia twisted around and poked Callie in the nose. She looked bored with the adult conversation going on around her. Even though she couldn’t have been more than six or seven months old at most, she had the same pout as her mother, right down to her gorgeous little cheeks. Even though she was still quite a bit shell-shocked at the revelation, Arizona was only human - that kid was pretty damn cute.
Her gaze shifted from the baby to her former lover, who simply grinned and played with Sofia’s foot in return. It would be clear to anyone that looked at the pair how much Callie loved her daughter.
“I always knew you’d be a great mom,” Arizona said quietly, trying to ignore the sadness suddenly lumped in her chest. Her eyes drifted down as Sofia honed in on the silver chain around Callie’s neck, a tiny fist pinching the necklace to try and get a good grip on it. Arizona would have laughed at the perplexed expression on the baby’s face except that she noticed the particular necklace she was interested in.
Surprised, Arizona’s gaze shot back to Callie, unsure how to ask the question burning at the tip of her tongue.
Callie calmed Sofia's hand and brought her eyes up to meet Arizona's. “What?”
Arizona had a hard time finding her voice again. She slowly lifted a hand to point at the chain around Callie's neck. “You, um. You’re still - you're wearing our - I mean, your - t-the necklace,” she stuttered.
Callie had almost forgotten about it. “Oh, yeah.” She looked down at Sofia who instinctively reached her chubby little hand up to touch her mother's face. The act gave Callie the extra courage she needed to answer Arizona's question. “It reminds me of how happy I was back then. I didn’t wear it for the longest time, but I didn’t want to get rid of it when you moved away, either. And Sofia really likes it, so…I hope that’s not weird or anything,” she added.
“No, it’s not weird. I’m just surprised.” Arizona’s face fell. “I lost mine in the move. I’ve looked everywhere since then, but…”
Callie’s shoulders dropped. That hurt more than she would have expected it to. “Oh.”
Another bout of silence descended around them, only broken by the occasional gurgle coming from Sofia.
It was Arizona who finally spoke up. “I should probably go. I've got a lot of prep work to do for this trial.”
“Oh, okay,” Callie said softly. She did her best to hide her disappointment. She wanted to know more about this trial and why Arizona was suddenly back in Seattle for it, but she recognized the other woman’s need to get away and process things. It was a lot of information in one go. “I guess I'll see you around? You’re here tomorrow?”
Arizona managed a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, for sure. I’ll see you around, Calliope.” She gave Sofia a small wink and turned away. She couldn’t quite bring herself to look over her shoulder as she retreated.
Callie released a hard gust of air and gave up trying to decide whether Arizona’s pace could be considered a run or not. “Well, I guess that could've gone worse, huh baby girl?” She kissed Sofia lightly on her temple, watching Arizona disappear from view. “C’mon, let’s get you home and into the bath.”
---