Fault Lines (11/36)
Fault Lines
Chapter 11/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Eight weeks later the results are in, but not necessarily for whom you’d expect.
Disclaimer
Previous Chapters
Fanfiction Master List! I made one so all of my work is together in one place and everything is easy to find, including the posted parts of this entire series. The old ‘previous chapters’ lists have been deleted as a result.
A/N: The irony of the timing here does not escape me. It wasn’t planned this way.
---
Eight Weeks Later
“Callie?” Arizona stood right outside of the bathroom door, her nose just about touching the wood. “Is…everything okay in there?” It had been a good five minutes since Callie had locked herself inside with a pregnancy test, and she hadn’t heard a peep.
Arizona was dying out here all by herself. Not to mention a little cold, standing in a pair of pajama shorts and a thin white t-shirt. Prior to all of this, she had been ready to collapse into bed and pass out for the evening, but now she was shaking with nerves.
“Calliope?” When she still didn’t receive an answer, Arizona pouted and her shoulders drooped. “Calliope, I’m kind of the baby-daddy. Why can’t I be in there with you?”
“Because!” Callie shouted from the other side of the door, her voice shrill and distressed.
Arizona frowned. “Honey, please. Let me in.”
Inside, Callie was pacing from one end of the bathroom to the other. Her left arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, and her right elbow was propped up on it. She had her thumbnail jammed in her mouth and was nervously chewing away as she glanced at the counter for the millionth time in the last thirty seconds.
The tiny white stick that lay in the sink mocked her as the seconds on a nearby timer slowly ticked by.
***
Lexie's hand was shaking as she held up a pink and white box. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes wide as she read over the instructions yet again. This was the first time she'd ever had to go through something like this, and she was terrified. Her photographic memory absolutely refused to absorb the irritatingly small writing on the box, detailing exactly what she was supposed to be doing here.
Peeing on a stick had never seemed so difficult. Was there a right way to do it? A wrong way?
“Lex, would you hurry up already? I have to pee.” Meredith’s voice cut in to her petrified thoughts from behind the doorway.
Lexie jumped, caught off guard and suddenly freaking out even more than she had been a moment before. The box flew out of her hands and clattered to the floor. “I-in a minute! I’ll be done in a minute!”
Outside, Meredith frowned. “What are you doing in there?”
“That’s a very personal question to be asking someone who’s in the bathroom,” Lexie snapped irritably. But the door burst open anyway, just as she stooped down to grab the box from the floor, and she jumped back against the sink, hiding it behind her. “Hey!”
Meredith's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What's that behind your back?”
“Nothing!”
Meredith slowly closed the door behind her. “Little Grey...”
“Don't call me that!” Lexie whined. Without her permission, tears sprung up behind her eyes and refused to disappear.
The older Grey took a few slow, calculated steps closer towards the younger one. “Lex? Is something wrong?”
Lexie swallowed back and opened her mouth to deny it.
“I’m late.”
Oops.
“Late?” Meredith echoed. “How-”
“Very late,” Lexie stated. She slowly pulled the pregnancy test box out from behind her back and stared at it.
Meredith's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked from her sister down to the object in her hands. It only took a second for her to clue in. “Oh! You mean...late-late.”
Lexie nodded but didn't look up.
Meredith was stunned into silence as a few tense moments passed between them. “Lex,” she finally called softly as she moved in to close the remaining distance between them. “How? Who?”
“I don’t know,” Lexie whimpered, on the brink of a meltdown. “Mark a-and I were drunk and we…we kinda didn’t use…” She licked her lips. “I’m not on birth control, I don’t react well to it. And with Alex…I mean, t-there’s been a broken condom or two in the last few months…god, Meredith, I’m so careful every single time. I won’t even let Mark get started if he doesn’t have a condom. There’s no way that the one time I don’t…” She trailed off, and whatever colour she had left drained completely from her complexion. “Oh god. I can’t be pregnant. I can’t.”
“Just...calm down, okay?” Meredith tried to soothe the other woman as she reached out to gently pry the box from her tightly clutched fingers. “Exactly how late are we talking here?”
Little Grey grimaced. “Six weeks?”
“Lexie!” Meredith scolded as she slapped the box down onto the bathroom counter. She rubbed at her forehead and turned around to face the other direction. “Just...drop your pants and pee.”
***
Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin when the bathroom door ripped violently open a few seconds later. She blinked at the wide-eyed, panicked, nostril-flaring image of her girlfriend standing in the entrance.
“I can't take it anymore,” Callie snapped. Her fingers dug into the door frame as she held it open. “All the ticking and the tocking of the little red timer...” She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and for a moment Arizona thought she was doing her pee dance. “It's driving me insane, Arizona. Insane.”
“Okay, c’mere,” Arizona soothed, immediately stepping over the threshold before Callie could change her mind. “Hey,” she murmured softly, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her in nice and close. “It’ll be ready soon, and then we’ll know, okay?”
“What if it’s negative again?” Callie’s eyes shone with a deep-seeded fear, begging for an answer that wouldn’t break her heart. They’d done this once before with no results, and she didn’t think she could handle being disappointed a second time.
“What if it’s positive?” Arizona countered, lifting an eyebrow and smiling a little.
“It didn’t work the first time you said that,” Callie pointed out in a flat voice.
“I know.”
“What if it still doesn’t work?”
“Then we try again.”
Callie huffed. “Not to be totally gross or anything, but we don’t exactly have an endless supply of your brother’s sperm to work with here, Arizona.”
“It’ll be positive,” the blonde reaffirmed.
Callie growled under her breath. “Your annoyingly perpetual optimism isn’t helping me right now.”
“If it’s negative, then we try again,” Arizona replied confidently. “It’ll take eventually, we just have to be patient. And if it’s positive-” Callie looked away, and Arizona reached up to cup both hands around her cheeks, steering her gaze back. “If it’s positive, you’ll get a blood test at work tomorrow, and if that’s positive too, then we’re gonna have a baby.” A bright smile lit her face up, unwavering in her faith behind those words. “Either way, I love you, and the pee-stick will be ready in ten seconds.”
Whatever small amount of relaxation Callie had gained from Arizona’s assurances disappeared in an instant. Both eyes slammed shut and she groaned, a ball of anxiety welling up in the pit of her stomach. “Oh god.”
***
“Did you hear that?” Lexie’s head shot up to look over her sister's shoulder at the bathroom door. “I thought I heard-”
“Lexie!” Mark called out from somewhere on the other side.
“Oh, crap.” Lexie’s eyes popped open wide and she began to panic. “I...I can't. He can't. Not...not now. Not yet.”
“Lexie,” Meredith hissed, cutting into her sister’s second panic attack. “Stop. Breathe. Be calm, even though that’s hard enough for you on a good day. I’ll get rid of him, and you pee on the other two tests just to be sure. Okay?”
Lexie nodded mutely.
Meredith yanked open the bathroom door a few inches, slipped out, and slammed it shut behind her again. “What do you want?” she asked Mark bluntly.
Mark’s eyes fixed on the door. “She’s in there, isn’t she? She’s been avoiding me for days. I need to see her.”
Meredith shook her head. “No, you don’t. She’s…sick. There’s puke. Everywhere.” Well, there would have been, if she hadn’t been quelling Lexie’s panic attacks. So, it wasn’t entirely a lie. Kind of.
“I don't care,” Mark shot back as he moved to step around her. “I need to see her.”
“No, Mark,” Meredith repeated firmly as she moved to the left and effectively blocked his path. “She doesn't want to see you right now.” She paused for half a second to let that sink in. “She's feeling very confused and you’ll just make it worse.”
“She said that?” Mark replied softly, looking a little stung.
“Not in so many words,” Meredith sighed. “Sloan, please, just…go. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
Mark looked choked. “What did I do?” he asked weakly. “Just tell me so I can fix it.”
Meredith felt bad for him. “You can’t,” she added quietly. “And it’s not…it’s nothing you did.” Technically speaking, he did do something. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that without going into detail. “Just give her some space. I promise you she’ll be okay.”
Mark ran his fingers back through his hair, looking pained. “I can't. I love her too much.” He was at war with himself. He wanted so damn badly to just push his way past Meredith, burst through the bathroom door, and...
But, on the other hand, he wanted to respect Lexie and what she wanted. So he compromised with himself. “Lexie?” Mark called out loud enough to be heard through the door. “I love you.” He paused. “Whatever I did, I'm sorry.”
Lexie’s heart broke inside her chest. She felt horrible letting Mark think he did something wrong, but…
She couldn’t tell him until she knew for sure. She just couldn’t. Partly because she didn’t know if the baby would be his or not. So she swallowed back and kept silent, not trusting herself to speak.
Outside the door, Meredith placed a hand on Mark’s arm. “She’ll be okay. I can’t say anything more right now, so you’ll just have to trust me. I’m her sister, I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Mark hesitated. He glanced uncertainly from Meredith to the bathroom door, then back again.
“I promise.”
“Fine,” he relented with a heavy sigh. He gently extracted his arm from Meredith’s grip to reach into the pocket of his leather jacket and produce a small white envelope. “Will you please just give this to her?”
Meredith took it and nodded silently. She watched as Mark turned and slowly trudged back down the stairs and out the front door. Her eyes then fell back to the envelope, and she immediately began to tear it open.
The bathroom door flew open wide and Lexie snatched the letter out of her hands with a hard glare. “That’s rude.”
Meredith smirked and crossed her arms. “Did you pee?”
Lexie sighed. “I ran out before I could get to the third one.” She glanced down at the envelope as she pulled out a set of photographs, freshly developed. They were from the year before, of her and Mark on a weekend trip to Los Angeles. He must have either just found them, or just had them developed. They both looked happy in every single one of them.
It made her wonder how much longer their newly discovered life together was going to last.
***
“I can’t look.”
Arizona sighed and circled both arms around Callie’s waist, pressing up against the her back and resting her chin on her shoulder. “You’ve been saying that for two whole minutes, sweetie. It’ll be better if you just do it, then you can stop worrying.” She was itching to grab the test from the sink and look herself, but she knew that Callie had to be the one to do it first. Though if she didn’t hurry up…
“Baby, come on,” Arizona urged, hugging her girlfriend a little harder. “This is our moment.”
Callie whimpered pitifully. “I know,” she admitted with a low, shaky sigh. She’d never been so nervous in her entire life. Not even the disasterous public speaking incidents she’d been forced to endure made her feel this jittery, and back then there had been way more puke involved.
After a few seconds of non-movement, Callie pried her eyes open. She was shaking like a leaf as she took a slow step forward and peered into the sink where the stick was sitting.
Hovering right behind her, Arizona held her breath and waited. A few long, tense moments of silence ticked by, and she nearly cracked.
“Pink,” Callie whispered suddenly, breaking through the suspense.
“What?” Arizona’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Pink,” Callie instantly repeated. “It's pink.”
***
Meredith's brow furrowed as she stared down at the tiny white stick hanging half over the edge of the counter. “It's pink,” she stated slowly.
“What?” Lexie shivered from her spot just behind her sister.
“Pink,” Meredith repeated. “It's pink.”
“Pink? W-what does that even mean? Like it’s a, it’s a girl or something?” There was a shrill edge to Little Grey’s voice.
Meredith turned to her. “Did Lexipedia seriously just ask me that question?” She swatted her sister upside the head. “It means you’re pregnant, Lex. And apparently stupid.”
Lexie’s whole world shifted off its axis and she slowly sank down onto the closed toilet lid, suddenly feeling very dizzy. “Oh.”
***
Tears were beginning to streak down Callie's face as she held the pregnancy test in hand. She couldn't take her eyes from the bright pink plus sign that was staring right back up at her.
“It's pink,” she repeated incredulously, turning on a dime to snag her girlfriend in a fierce, bone-crushing hug. “Arizona, it’s pink!”
It took Arizona a few seconds to recover from the shock, but when she did, she hugged Callie back just as hard. “It’s pink,” she echoed, unable to find any other words in the moment.
It was pink. Freaking pink with a plus sign.
Holy shit.
Arizona tried to blink back the sudden wave of emotion that just about overcame her completely. “I love you,” she whispered in a hoarse voice, burying her face into the crook of Callie’s neck. “God, I love you so much.”
Callie laughed out of pure relief and held on as tightly as she physically could.
Oh, thank God. It was pink.
***
“Are you gonna tell him?” Meredith held a cup of steaming tea out for her sister.
Lexie looked up from the couch through tear-filled eyes. They had journeyed into the living room after removing all evidence of the test from the bathroom. Thankfully, no one else was home at the time, especially Alex. She felt bad for him, and she’d tried to apologize and get him to talk to her, but he’d done his usual ‘whatever’ routine and stopped caring by now.
“Which him?” she asked faintly after a second, dropping her forehead into her right hand. She rubbed at it with her fingertips, realizing all over again that she didn’t even know which man was the father.
“Him,” Meredith repeated as she shoved her sister over to take a seat on the couch as well. “Mark. Alex. Either.” She raised another mug to her lips and took a long, slow sip.
Lexie couldn’t even lift the one in her lap, let alone drink any tea from it. “I…I kinda have to, you’d think.” She laughed, because it was just so bizarre. “God, Mer. Mark and I…things were finally getting good again, a-and now, now it’s all…” She squeezed her eyes shut and her voice nearly broke. “What if it’s not his?” She wanted Mark to be the father so badly it hurt. But she had no way of knowing. Not yet.
Meredith sighed as she dropped the cup to rest between her legs. She held it there with her left hand and reached out with her right to place it on the other woman's knee. “It'll be his,” she offered with a gentle smile.
Lexie instantly shook her head. “You can't promise that.”
Meredith sighed again. “No,” she admitted. “I can't.”
Fresh tears glistened in Lexie's eyes and she leaned over the short distance to bury her face into her sister's shoulder.
Both women were suddenly jolted by the sound of a hard, insistent knock at the front door. “Lexie?” It was Mark. Again.
“Oh, crap,” Lexie choked, wiping furiously at her tears. “I-I can’t, not now. Not until I know for sure tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. Tomorrow was so far away.
“You think if I bribe the lab techs they’ll run a blood test for me tonight?” Lexie tried to ignore the insistent knocking at the front door and focus on her older sister. “I don’t know if I can make it until tomorrow.”
She was pretty sure she was pregnant, with the lateness, the occasional puking and now the this, but…the only way to be sure was a blood test.
Crap.
“Lexie?” The intensity of the knocking had died down to a low, steady rhythm. There was a slight pause. “Please, Lex. Open up.”
Meredith glanced from her sister to the door, then back again. “Can't you cut the guy a little break here?” she pleaded on Sloan's behalf. “I'm not saying you have to tell him anything about the...stuff. But it's obvious he's heartbroken.”
Lexie looked over at the door. Knowing Mark was behind there, she suddenly missed how he smelled. How he was the perfect size to just hold her tightly in his arms and feel perfect. How she loved to run her fingers through his hair, and how his scruff when he didn’t shave for a few days scratched against her skin. She missed him.
Setting the tea aside, Lexie got up and strode over to the door before she lost her nerve.
Mark looked up in surprise when it suddenly swung open. He barely had time to blink before he found his girlfriend’s arms wrapped as tightly around his midsection as she could manage.
Lexie closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.
Mark hugged her back, and he turned his face down to bury his nose in her hair. “Please, just tell me what I did so I can fix it.”
“It’s not you,” Lexie whispered. “It’s not you.”
Meredith watched from the couch. She really didn’t know if Lexie would say anything to Mark tonight, and she wasn’t going to push her to do it until she was ready, but…
Mark would be there no matter what. That much was clear as day right now.
Lexie couldn’t keep it from him. She was going to burst if she didn’t say something. “Mark…” She pulled her head back to look up, tears still glistening in her eyes. “I-I have to…”
But she trailed off as Alex came up the front walkway, stopping and watching them with a broody expression on his face.
She faltered.
No. Not here. Not yet.
Lexie turned her gaze back up to Mark’s. “Can you meet me tomorrow morning at work? Early?”
Mark frowned as he stared down the short distance into tearful brown eyes. “I...I thought you'd maybe come home with me tonight.”
“Fat chance,” Alex snorted as he walked up behind the couple. He glared at Lexie from around Mark's shoulder. “When she's all girly and emotional like this, the jaws of life can't pry those thighs apart.”
Mark turned in an instant, snarling as he reached out to grab Alex by the lapels of his jacket.
Lexie instantly jumped on Mark and grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t.” Her voice held more force in it that she’d thought she could muster.
Alex pulled roughly away from Mark, and Meredith instantly appeared by his side. She grabbed him by the ear and yanked. “Shut up and walk,” the older Grey growled under her breath, dragging him like a child into the house.
Lexie released another deep sigh.” I…I can’t,” she said, continuing from Mark’s earlier inquiry. “I have to work the overnight shift.”
Had to was a stretch, but the hospital definitely wouldn’t complain if she worked extra hours. And there was no way she’d be sleeping tonight, so she figured she might as well keep busy until the lab could run her test.
“Just…come in early? Around eight?” Lexie placed both hands on his chest. “Please?”
Mark swallowed a little uneasily, but he could see that forcing the issue wouldn’t help his girl right now. “Okay,” he relented.
She moved her hands up to lightly grab him by the back of the neck, and stood on her toes to pull him into a soft, loving kiss. “Thank you.” It only lasted a few seconds before she quickly pulled away, stepping back into the house and closing the door on him. Before she lost her nerve.
Lexie slid down with her back against it until she was on the floor. She wanted nothing more than to tell him, but it wasn’t that simple. She wanted to be sure, first. Had to be sure. Because ‘I’m pregnant’ wasn’t the only thing she had to tell him.
‘I’m pregnant and I don’t know if you’re the father’ was.
***
“Is it creepy that I feel like professionally framing the test?” Arizona bounded giddily through the kitchen and skidded across the hardwood floor on her bare feet. She leaned into the counter and reached for a wine glass on the top shelf, groaning in the process and nearly hyper-extending her limbs. She was too short for this kitchen most days.
Callie snorted from her position bent over in the open fridge. She grabbed a bowl of leftover pasta salad, then swung the door closed and grinned lopsidedly at her girlfriend. “That is a little creepy. Which is why we're not doing it.”
“Party pooper,” Arizona teased, sticking her tongue between her teeth in concentration before finally managing to snag a glass.
Callie took the container to the counter and tossed it onto the granite top. She pulled off the lid and reached in to swipe a finger along the side of the bowl. “Grab my glass too, please,” she called over as she stuck the finger in her mouth, moaning at the yummy taste.
Arizona shrugged and grabbed a second glass. She made one quick trip to the fridge before filling them both and carrying them over, handing one off to her partner. “Cheers.” They clinked edges and raised the liquid to their lips.
Callie pulled back almost instantly. “This is grape juice.”
Arizona lifted an eyebrow patiently. “Yes, it is.”
“But…” Callie pouted and eyeballed Arizona’s glass of what she could distinctly see was red wine.
“Oh, sweetie. We’re gonna have to have a talk about pregnancy and protocol, aren’t we?” Arizona sighed, patting her lover on the forearm.
The realization suddenly dawned on Callie’s face. “Aw, crap! I can’t drink!” She scowled. “I so didn’t sign up for this.”
“Kinda did, actually,” Arizona mused
“I can't have even a little, ever,” Callie pouted. “For the next...nine months. This sucks.”
Arizona laughed as she leaned across the short distance to place a soft, lingering kiss against her girlfriend's temple. “You're cute when you realize things.”
Callie sighed, a slow smile reforming over her lips as she turned back to stick her finger into the bowl once again.
It was Arizona's turn to snort.
“Shut up,” Callie shot back as she sucked the pasta salad off. “At least now I have an excuse.”
Arizona chuckled and watched Callie pout and eat. She found it…sexy, endearing, adorable, and a whole slew of other adjectives she couldn’t quite come up with on the spot. “It’s not just for nine months, by the way.”
Callie froze, finger still in her mouth, and slowly blinked over at her girlfriend.
“More like eighteen, at least. Depends on how long you’re breast feeding for.” Arizona’s smirk grew. “Nothing but chocolate milk and grape juice from here on out, darling.”
She then proceeded to take a long, drawn out gulp of wine, moaning loudly and rolling her eyes back into her head as though it was the best thing she’d ever tasted. She finished the whole glass in a matter of seconds and ended with a content, satisfied sigh. “Mmm. That’s the stuff.”
Callie's dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “Mean.” She shook her head with a scowl, then fixed Arizona with a defiant stare and stood up a little straighter. “Whatever. I like chocolate milk. So suck it.” She popped another finger-scoop of food into her mouth.
Arizona snickered and twirled the empty glass around in her hand. Callie had just dipped her finger into the bowl for a fourth time and was now sucking on it again.
Slowly.
Arizona bit her bottom lip.
It took a moment, but Callie finally noticed her lover's stare. “Whaf?” she mumbled around the digit before pulling it from her mouth, frowning.
An alluring smile began to work its way over Arizona’s lips, and she slowly set her glass aside next to the sink. She took Callie’s away and did the same. “Let me try some of that.”
Callie shrugged and pushed the bowl over to Arizona, but not before taking another swipe along the rim again. Before she could lift it to her mouth, however, Arizona reached over and stopped her arm from moving. Callie watched in rapt fascination as the blonde directed the all-too-willing hand up to her lips and slowly sucked the salad-covered finger into her mouth.
A sharp jolt ran through Callie’s entire body, just with that one simple act alone.
Jesus fuck. Did Arizona have any idea what that did to her?
Of course she did. They'd been together long enough for her to know. And she still did it anyway.
“Arizona,” Callie warned with a low, deepening growl. “Don't start something if you're not gonna finish it.” She kept her dark eyes locked on the smoky blue across from her as the blonde continued to softly suck on her finger.
Arizona’s smirk remained firmly in place as she very slowly pulled the digit from her lips, playfully nipping at the tip of it. “Since when have I ever started something and not finished?” The look in her eyes was purely mischievous and simply dared Callie to try and resist.
Callie swallowed. Hard.
Arizona gave the hand in hers a sudden jerk, strong enough to send Callie crashing into her body. Her free arm snaked around her girlfriend’s waist she kissed her way along the woman’s wrist and forearm, before skipping up to her shoulder and neck. All the while, Arizona pushed forward until Callie backpedaled and collided with the far kitchen wall. Their lips crashed together in a heated kiss not a full second later.
The brunette gasped in surprise, but still managed to push back into it with just as much passion as she received. Her right hand moved down to rest on Arizona's hip. “We're supposed to be celebrating,” she whispered huskily.
Arizona just smiled into the kiss.
Callie felt the gesture against her lips and offered one in return. “Oh,” she chuckled deeply, sliding the hand down from Arizona's hip to rest over her ass. “Right.”
Smirking with a sense of all-knowing superiority in that moment, Arizona moved her kisses back down along Callie’s neck. “You’re cute when you’re slow, too.” She jumped at the light swat against her rump, giggling.
“You’re gonna be so beautiful pregnant, baby,” Arizona murmured against another spot on Callie’s neck, before pulling back and capturing her lips once more. Her left hand pushed up underneath her girlfriend’s shirt and rested against her abdomen.
Callie chuckled softly. “Gettin' in some...early...suck-up practice?” she whispered brokenly, in between kisses.
Arizona simply smiled again.
Callie squeezed her girlfriend’s firm bottom a second time. “Think it's a little early to sweet talk me through a crazy-hormonal meltdown.” She placed one last lingering kiss on those perfect lips before pulling back to blink open darkened brown eyes. “Not even pregnant yet.” Her hand flexed again on instinct.
“You are,” Arizona instantly shot back, pulling away from Callie’s lips to fix her with a look.
“Maybe,” Callie relented with a little smile. “We still need the official ‘okay’.”
“You’re pregnant,” Arizona stated, leaning in to nuzzle softly against Callie’s ear. “I can feel it. And if any one of the two of us would know, it’s me. I’m the baby whisperer, remember?”
That made Callie laugh. “Oh, okay. Right. Because I would have no idea, being the one who’s supposedly ‘with child’ and all. My opinion counts for shit.”
“Exactly.” Arizona grinned and planted another hard kiss over top of Callie’s smirk. “You’re pregnant. Tomorrow is just a formality and makes it even more official that it already is to me.” The playfulness and lust of minutes before were still present, but the look of adoration in Arizona’s eyes over-rode everything.
She adored Callie, and couldn’t fight the overwhelming joy she felt inside at the knowledge that she was carrying their first child.
Callie's soft smile slowly returned, her insides fluttering under the other woman’s intense gaze. Those blue eyes were never any less than piercing when they looked directly at her like that. “Me too,” she whispered lovingly, reaching up to brush a strand of blonde behind Arizona's ear.
This, right here, was all she ever needed. Nothing more.
“Forget the food,” Callie whispered gently. “Your parents are coming early tomorrow morning.” She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “We should really...get to bed.”
Arizona’s bottom lip did the opposite and stuck out in a pout. “I’m trying to seduce you here, Torres. You’re killing my buzz with talk of things that don’t matter.”
“Zona,” Callie chided gently. “You know how much this matters to your dad. He’s barely able to leave the hotel these days, he’s really looking forward to seeing us for breakfast.” She watched as something changed in her partner, the light in her eyes fading almost immediately as a guarded expression carefully slipped into its place.
Arizona sighed and suddenly pulled back from Callie entirely, turning away. “I know, I know. I’m just…yeah, I’m tired. Bed is a good idea.”
Left cold, aching and more than a little shocked at the sudden one-eighty, Callie’s mouth parted slightly as Arizona moved away from her, watching as the blonde’s demeanor changed completely from moments ago. That seemed to happen a lot these days, every time the subject of Colonel Robbins came up. She couldn’t understand why Arizona had been avoiding her parents when it was clear she might not have much time left to spend with her father.
“Arizona?” she called softly, frowning as she studied her closely.
Arizona grabbed the bowl of pasta salad and placed it back in the fridge, refusing to look over at Callie. “You go ahead, I need to make a few quick calls to check up on some patient progress. I’ll be right behind you.” She picked up the wine glasses and set them in the sink, staring down with a vacant look in her eyes.
Callie blinked, still a little stunned. This was about as far from naked and moaning as they could get, and that just wasn’t sitting right with her. “Arizona,” she tried again when the blonde turned towards the phone. “Are you serious?”
Arizona picked it up and paused, glancing back at Callie. “What?”
Callie smiled in disbelief. “I didn't mean 'bed' as in 'sleep'.” She paused for a moment, but it was clear her girlfriend still wasn't getting it. “Sex, Arizona,” she sighed. “I meant I wanted to have sex. In bed. With you. Preferably naked. Possibly more than once.”
Arizona blinked, glancing at the phone in her hand with a frown and then back up at the other woman. “I…oh.” She frowned in confusion.
Callie pushed off of the wall and slowly, carefully approached. “Sweetie, are you okay?” Brown eyes shone with concern.
It was with a light blush that Arizona placed the phone back onto its cradle and turned to give her a small, sheepish grin. “Sorry, I…” She trailed off, feeling like a bit of an idiot. “I’m off my game, apparently.” That didn’t happen very often. Or at least, it didn’t used to. These days she felt completely ‘off’, like her game was in another ball park all together.
Swallowing hard, she slowly stepped back toward Callie and placed a hand on her side. “Can we try that again?” She bit her bottom lip, looking kind of tentative.
Callie shook her head one last time, leaning in to place a gentle, lingering kiss against those irresistible lips. “C’mon.” She slipped an arm around Arizona’s slender waist and guided her in the direction of their bedroom. “We should make sure you knocked me up extra good, just in case.”
Arizona found herself smiling just the slightest bit. “I can do that.”
---
Chapter 11/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Eight weeks later the results are in, but not necessarily for whom you’d expect.
Disclaimer
Previous Chapters
Fanfiction Master List! I made one so all of my work is together in one place and everything is easy to find, including the posted parts of this entire series. The old ‘previous chapters’ lists have been deleted as a result.
A/N: The irony of the timing here does not escape me. It wasn’t planned this way.
---
Eight Weeks Later
“Callie?” Arizona stood right outside of the bathroom door, her nose just about touching the wood. “Is…everything okay in there?” It had been a good five minutes since Callie had locked herself inside with a pregnancy test, and she hadn’t heard a peep.
Arizona was dying out here all by herself. Not to mention a little cold, standing in a pair of pajama shorts and a thin white t-shirt. Prior to all of this, she had been ready to collapse into bed and pass out for the evening, but now she was shaking with nerves.
“Calliope?” When she still didn’t receive an answer, Arizona pouted and her shoulders drooped. “Calliope, I’m kind of the baby-daddy. Why can’t I be in there with you?”
“Because!” Callie shouted from the other side of the door, her voice shrill and distressed.
Arizona frowned. “Honey, please. Let me in.”
Inside, Callie was pacing from one end of the bathroom to the other. Her left arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, and her right elbow was propped up on it. She had her thumbnail jammed in her mouth and was nervously chewing away as she glanced at the counter for the millionth time in the last thirty seconds.
The tiny white stick that lay in the sink mocked her as the seconds on a nearby timer slowly ticked by.
***
Lexie's hand was shaking as she held up a pink and white box. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes wide as she read over the instructions yet again. This was the first time she'd ever had to go through something like this, and she was terrified. Her photographic memory absolutely refused to absorb the irritatingly small writing on the box, detailing exactly what she was supposed to be doing here.
Peeing on a stick had never seemed so difficult. Was there a right way to do it? A wrong way?
“Lex, would you hurry up already? I have to pee.” Meredith’s voice cut in to her petrified thoughts from behind the doorway.
Lexie jumped, caught off guard and suddenly freaking out even more than she had been a moment before. The box flew out of her hands and clattered to the floor. “I-in a minute! I’ll be done in a minute!”
Outside, Meredith frowned. “What are you doing in there?”
“That’s a very personal question to be asking someone who’s in the bathroom,” Lexie snapped irritably. But the door burst open anyway, just as she stooped down to grab the box from the floor, and she jumped back against the sink, hiding it behind her. “Hey!”
Meredith's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What's that behind your back?”
“Nothing!”
Meredith slowly closed the door behind her. “Little Grey...”
“Don't call me that!” Lexie whined. Without her permission, tears sprung up behind her eyes and refused to disappear.
The older Grey took a few slow, calculated steps closer towards the younger one. “Lex? Is something wrong?”
Lexie swallowed back and opened her mouth to deny it.
“I’m late.”
Oops.
“Late?” Meredith echoed. “How-”
“Very late,” Lexie stated. She slowly pulled the pregnancy test box out from behind her back and stared at it.
Meredith's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked from her sister down to the object in her hands. It only took a second for her to clue in. “Oh! You mean...late-late.”
Lexie nodded but didn't look up.
Meredith was stunned into silence as a few tense moments passed between them. “Lex,” she finally called softly as she moved in to close the remaining distance between them. “How? Who?”
“I don’t know,” Lexie whimpered, on the brink of a meltdown. “Mark a-and I were drunk and we…we kinda didn’t use…” She licked her lips. “I’m not on birth control, I don’t react well to it. And with Alex…I mean, t-there’s been a broken condom or two in the last few months…god, Meredith, I’m so careful every single time. I won’t even let Mark get started if he doesn’t have a condom. There’s no way that the one time I don’t…” She trailed off, and whatever colour she had left drained completely from her complexion. “Oh god. I can’t be pregnant. I can’t.”
“Just...calm down, okay?” Meredith tried to soothe the other woman as she reached out to gently pry the box from her tightly clutched fingers. “Exactly how late are we talking here?”
Little Grey grimaced. “Six weeks?”
“Lexie!” Meredith scolded as she slapped the box down onto the bathroom counter. She rubbed at her forehead and turned around to face the other direction. “Just...drop your pants and pee.”
***
Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin when the bathroom door ripped violently open a few seconds later. She blinked at the wide-eyed, panicked, nostril-flaring image of her girlfriend standing in the entrance.
“I can't take it anymore,” Callie snapped. Her fingers dug into the door frame as she held it open. “All the ticking and the tocking of the little red timer...” She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and for a moment Arizona thought she was doing her pee dance. “It's driving me insane, Arizona. Insane.”
“Okay, c’mere,” Arizona soothed, immediately stepping over the threshold before Callie could change her mind. “Hey,” she murmured softly, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her in nice and close. “It’ll be ready soon, and then we’ll know, okay?”
“What if it’s negative again?” Callie’s eyes shone with a deep-seeded fear, begging for an answer that wouldn’t break her heart. They’d done this once before with no results, and she didn’t think she could handle being disappointed a second time.
“What if it’s positive?” Arizona countered, lifting an eyebrow and smiling a little.
“It didn’t work the first time you said that,” Callie pointed out in a flat voice.
“I know.”
“What if it still doesn’t work?”
“Then we try again.”
Callie huffed. “Not to be totally gross or anything, but we don’t exactly have an endless supply of your brother’s sperm to work with here, Arizona.”
“It’ll be positive,” the blonde reaffirmed.
Callie growled under her breath. “Your annoyingly perpetual optimism isn’t helping me right now.”
“If it’s negative, then we try again,” Arizona replied confidently. “It’ll take eventually, we just have to be patient. And if it’s positive-” Callie looked away, and Arizona reached up to cup both hands around her cheeks, steering her gaze back. “If it’s positive, you’ll get a blood test at work tomorrow, and if that’s positive too, then we’re gonna have a baby.” A bright smile lit her face up, unwavering in her faith behind those words. “Either way, I love you, and the pee-stick will be ready in ten seconds.”
Whatever small amount of relaxation Callie had gained from Arizona’s assurances disappeared in an instant. Both eyes slammed shut and she groaned, a ball of anxiety welling up in the pit of her stomach. “Oh god.”
***
“Did you hear that?” Lexie’s head shot up to look over her sister's shoulder at the bathroom door. “I thought I heard-”
“Lexie!” Mark called out from somewhere on the other side.
“Oh, crap.” Lexie’s eyes popped open wide and she began to panic. “I...I can't. He can't. Not...not now. Not yet.”
“Lexie,” Meredith hissed, cutting into her sister’s second panic attack. “Stop. Breathe. Be calm, even though that’s hard enough for you on a good day. I’ll get rid of him, and you pee on the other two tests just to be sure. Okay?”
Lexie nodded mutely.
Meredith yanked open the bathroom door a few inches, slipped out, and slammed it shut behind her again. “What do you want?” she asked Mark bluntly.
Mark’s eyes fixed on the door. “She’s in there, isn’t she? She’s been avoiding me for days. I need to see her.”
Meredith shook her head. “No, you don’t. She’s…sick. There’s puke. Everywhere.” Well, there would have been, if she hadn’t been quelling Lexie’s panic attacks. So, it wasn’t entirely a lie. Kind of.
“I don't care,” Mark shot back as he moved to step around her. “I need to see her.”
“No, Mark,” Meredith repeated firmly as she moved to the left and effectively blocked his path. “She doesn't want to see you right now.” She paused for half a second to let that sink in. “She's feeling very confused and you’ll just make it worse.”
“She said that?” Mark replied softly, looking a little stung.
“Not in so many words,” Meredith sighed. “Sloan, please, just…go. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
Mark looked choked. “What did I do?” he asked weakly. “Just tell me so I can fix it.”
Meredith felt bad for him. “You can’t,” she added quietly. “And it’s not…it’s nothing you did.” Technically speaking, he did do something. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that without going into detail. “Just give her some space. I promise you she’ll be okay.”
Mark ran his fingers back through his hair, looking pained. “I can't. I love her too much.” He was at war with himself. He wanted so damn badly to just push his way past Meredith, burst through the bathroom door, and...
But, on the other hand, he wanted to respect Lexie and what she wanted. So he compromised with himself. “Lexie?” Mark called out loud enough to be heard through the door. “I love you.” He paused. “Whatever I did, I'm sorry.”
Lexie’s heart broke inside her chest. She felt horrible letting Mark think he did something wrong, but…
She couldn’t tell him until she knew for sure. She just couldn’t. Partly because she didn’t know if the baby would be his or not. So she swallowed back and kept silent, not trusting herself to speak.
Outside the door, Meredith placed a hand on Mark’s arm. “She’ll be okay. I can’t say anything more right now, so you’ll just have to trust me. I’m her sister, I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Mark hesitated. He glanced uncertainly from Meredith to the bathroom door, then back again.
“I promise.”
“Fine,” he relented with a heavy sigh. He gently extracted his arm from Meredith’s grip to reach into the pocket of his leather jacket and produce a small white envelope. “Will you please just give this to her?”
Meredith took it and nodded silently. She watched as Mark turned and slowly trudged back down the stairs and out the front door. Her eyes then fell back to the envelope, and she immediately began to tear it open.
The bathroom door flew open wide and Lexie snatched the letter out of her hands with a hard glare. “That’s rude.”
Meredith smirked and crossed her arms. “Did you pee?”
Lexie sighed. “I ran out before I could get to the third one.” She glanced down at the envelope as she pulled out a set of photographs, freshly developed. They were from the year before, of her and Mark on a weekend trip to Los Angeles. He must have either just found them, or just had them developed. They both looked happy in every single one of them.
It made her wonder how much longer their newly discovered life together was going to last.
***
“I can’t look.”
Arizona sighed and circled both arms around Callie’s waist, pressing up against the her back and resting her chin on her shoulder. “You’ve been saying that for two whole minutes, sweetie. It’ll be better if you just do it, then you can stop worrying.” She was itching to grab the test from the sink and look herself, but she knew that Callie had to be the one to do it first. Though if she didn’t hurry up…
“Baby, come on,” Arizona urged, hugging her girlfriend a little harder. “This is our moment.”
Callie whimpered pitifully. “I know,” she admitted with a low, shaky sigh. She’d never been so nervous in her entire life. Not even the disasterous public speaking incidents she’d been forced to endure made her feel this jittery, and back then there had been way more puke involved.
After a few seconds of non-movement, Callie pried her eyes open. She was shaking like a leaf as she took a slow step forward and peered into the sink where the stick was sitting.
Hovering right behind her, Arizona held her breath and waited. A few long, tense moments of silence ticked by, and she nearly cracked.
“Pink,” Callie whispered suddenly, breaking through the suspense.
“What?” Arizona’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Pink,” Callie instantly repeated. “It's pink.”
***
Meredith's brow furrowed as she stared down at the tiny white stick hanging half over the edge of the counter. “It's pink,” she stated slowly.
“What?” Lexie shivered from her spot just behind her sister.
“Pink,” Meredith repeated. “It's pink.”
“Pink? W-what does that even mean? Like it’s a, it’s a girl or something?” There was a shrill edge to Little Grey’s voice.
Meredith turned to her. “Did Lexipedia seriously just ask me that question?” She swatted her sister upside the head. “It means you’re pregnant, Lex. And apparently stupid.”
Lexie’s whole world shifted off its axis and she slowly sank down onto the closed toilet lid, suddenly feeling very dizzy. “Oh.”
***
Tears were beginning to streak down Callie's face as she held the pregnancy test in hand. She couldn't take her eyes from the bright pink plus sign that was staring right back up at her.
“It's pink,” she repeated incredulously, turning on a dime to snag her girlfriend in a fierce, bone-crushing hug. “Arizona, it’s pink!”
It took Arizona a few seconds to recover from the shock, but when she did, she hugged Callie back just as hard. “It’s pink,” she echoed, unable to find any other words in the moment.
It was pink. Freaking pink with a plus sign.
Holy shit.
Arizona tried to blink back the sudden wave of emotion that just about overcame her completely. “I love you,” she whispered in a hoarse voice, burying her face into the crook of Callie’s neck. “God, I love you so much.”
Callie laughed out of pure relief and held on as tightly as she physically could.
Oh, thank God. It was pink.
***
“Are you gonna tell him?” Meredith held a cup of steaming tea out for her sister.
Lexie looked up from the couch through tear-filled eyes. They had journeyed into the living room after removing all evidence of the test from the bathroom. Thankfully, no one else was home at the time, especially Alex. She felt bad for him, and she’d tried to apologize and get him to talk to her, but he’d done his usual ‘whatever’ routine and stopped caring by now.
“Which him?” she asked faintly after a second, dropping her forehead into her right hand. She rubbed at it with her fingertips, realizing all over again that she didn’t even know which man was the father.
“Him,” Meredith repeated as she shoved her sister over to take a seat on the couch as well. “Mark. Alex. Either.” She raised another mug to her lips and took a long, slow sip.
Lexie couldn’t even lift the one in her lap, let alone drink any tea from it. “I…I kinda have to, you’d think.” She laughed, because it was just so bizarre. “God, Mer. Mark and I…things were finally getting good again, a-and now, now it’s all…” She squeezed her eyes shut and her voice nearly broke. “What if it’s not his?” She wanted Mark to be the father so badly it hurt. But she had no way of knowing. Not yet.
Meredith sighed as she dropped the cup to rest between her legs. She held it there with her left hand and reached out with her right to place it on the other woman's knee. “It'll be his,” she offered with a gentle smile.
Lexie instantly shook her head. “You can't promise that.”
Meredith sighed again. “No,” she admitted. “I can't.”
Fresh tears glistened in Lexie's eyes and she leaned over the short distance to bury her face into her sister's shoulder.
Both women were suddenly jolted by the sound of a hard, insistent knock at the front door. “Lexie?” It was Mark. Again.
“Oh, crap,” Lexie choked, wiping furiously at her tears. “I-I can’t, not now. Not until I know for sure tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. Tomorrow was so far away.
“You think if I bribe the lab techs they’ll run a blood test for me tonight?” Lexie tried to ignore the insistent knocking at the front door and focus on her older sister. “I don’t know if I can make it until tomorrow.”
She was pretty sure she was pregnant, with the lateness, the occasional puking and now the this, but…the only way to be sure was a blood test.
Crap.
“Lexie?” The intensity of the knocking had died down to a low, steady rhythm. There was a slight pause. “Please, Lex. Open up.”
Meredith glanced from her sister to the door, then back again. “Can't you cut the guy a little break here?” she pleaded on Sloan's behalf. “I'm not saying you have to tell him anything about the...stuff. But it's obvious he's heartbroken.”
Lexie looked over at the door. Knowing Mark was behind there, she suddenly missed how he smelled. How he was the perfect size to just hold her tightly in his arms and feel perfect. How she loved to run her fingers through his hair, and how his scruff when he didn’t shave for a few days scratched against her skin. She missed him.
Setting the tea aside, Lexie got up and strode over to the door before she lost her nerve.
Mark looked up in surprise when it suddenly swung open. He barely had time to blink before he found his girlfriend’s arms wrapped as tightly around his midsection as she could manage.
Lexie closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.
Mark hugged her back, and he turned his face down to bury his nose in her hair. “Please, just tell me what I did so I can fix it.”
“It’s not you,” Lexie whispered. “It’s not you.”
Meredith watched from the couch. She really didn’t know if Lexie would say anything to Mark tonight, and she wasn’t going to push her to do it until she was ready, but…
Mark would be there no matter what. That much was clear as day right now.
Lexie couldn’t keep it from him. She was going to burst if she didn’t say something. “Mark…” She pulled her head back to look up, tears still glistening in her eyes. “I-I have to…”
But she trailed off as Alex came up the front walkway, stopping and watching them with a broody expression on his face.
She faltered.
No. Not here. Not yet.
Lexie turned her gaze back up to Mark’s. “Can you meet me tomorrow morning at work? Early?”
Mark frowned as he stared down the short distance into tearful brown eyes. “I...I thought you'd maybe come home with me tonight.”
“Fat chance,” Alex snorted as he walked up behind the couple. He glared at Lexie from around Mark's shoulder. “When she's all girly and emotional like this, the jaws of life can't pry those thighs apart.”
Mark turned in an instant, snarling as he reached out to grab Alex by the lapels of his jacket.
Lexie instantly jumped on Mark and grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t.” Her voice held more force in it that she’d thought she could muster.
Alex pulled roughly away from Mark, and Meredith instantly appeared by his side. She grabbed him by the ear and yanked. “Shut up and walk,” the older Grey growled under her breath, dragging him like a child into the house.
Lexie released another deep sigh.” I…I can’t,” she said, continuing from Mark’s earlier inquiry. “I have to work the overnight shift.”
Had to was a stretch, but the hospital definitely wouldn’t complain if she worked extra hours. And there was no way she’d be sleeping tonight, so she figured she might as well keep busy until the lab could run her test.
“Just…come in early? Around eight?” Lexie placed both hands on his chest. “Please?”
Mark swallowed a little uneasily, but he could see that forcing the issue wouldn’t help his girl right now. “Okay,” he relented.
She moved her hands up to lightly grab him by the back of the neck, and stood on her toes to pull him into a soft, loving kiss. “Thank you.” It only lasted a few seconds before she quickly pulled away, stepping back into the house and closing the door on him. Before she lost her nerve.
Lexie slid down with her back against it until she was on the floor. She wanted nothing more than to tell him, but it wasn’t that simple. She wanted to be sure, first. Had to be sure. Because ‘I’m pregnant’ wasn’t the only thing she had to tell him.
‘I’m pregnant and I don’t know if you’re the father’ was.
***
“Is it creepy that I feel like professionally framing the test?” Arizona bounded giddily through the kitchen and skidded across the hardwood floor on her bare feet. She leaned into the counter and reached for a wine glass on the top shelf, groaning in the process and nearly hyper-extending her limbs. She was too short for this kitchen most days.
Callie snorted from her position bent over in the open fridge. She grabbed a bowl of leftover pasta salad, then swung the door closed and grinned lopsidedly at her girlfriend. “That is a little creepy. Which is why we're not doing it.”
“Party pooper,” Arizona teased, sticking her tongue between her teeth in concentration before finally managing to snag a glass.
Callie took the container to the counter and tossed it onto the granite top. She pulled off the lid and reached in to swipe a finger along the side of the bowl. “Grab my glass too, please,” she called over as she stuck the finger in her mouth, moaning at the yummy taste.
Arizona shrugged and grabbed a second glass. She made one quick trip to the fridge before filling them both and carrying them over, handing one off to her partner. “Cheers.” They clinked edges and raised the liquid to their lips.
Callie pulled back almost instantly. “This is grape juice.”
Arizona lifted an eyebrow patiently. “Yes, it is.”
“But…” Callie pouted and eyeballed Arizona’s glass of what she could distinctly see was red wine.
“Oh, sweetie. We’re gonna have to have a talk about pregnancy and protocol, aren’t we?” Arizona sighed, patting her lover on the forearm.
The realization suddenly dawned on Callie’s face. “Aw, crap! I can’t drink!” She scowled. “I so didn’t sign up for this.”
“Kinda did, actually,” Arizona mused
“I can't have even a little, ever,” Callie pouted. “For the next...nine months. This sucks.”
Arizona laughed as she leaned across the short distance to place a soft, lingering kiss against her girlfriend's temple. “You're cute when you realize things.”
Callie sighed, a slow smile reforming over her lips as she turned back to stick her finger into the bowl once again.
It was Arizona's turn to snort.
“Shut up,” Callie shot back as she sucked the pasta salad off. “At least now I have an excuse.”
Arizona chuckled and watched Callie pout and eat. She found it…sexy, endearing, adorable, and a whole slew of other adjectives she couldn’t quite come up with on the spot. “It’s not just for nine months, by the way.”
Callie froze, finger still in her mouth, and slowly blinked over at her girlfriend.
“More like eighteen, at least. Depends on how long you’re breast feeding for.” Arizona’s smirk grew. “Nothing but chocolate milk and grape juice from here on out, darling.”
She then proceeded to take a long, drawn out gulp of wine, moaning loudly and rolling her eyes back into her head as though it was the best thing she’d ever tasted. She finished the whole glass in a matter of seconds and ended with a content, satisfied sigh. “Mmm. That’s the stuff.”
Callie's dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “Mean.” She shook her head with a scowl, then fixed Arizona with a defiant stare and stood up a little straighter. “Whatever. I like chocolate milk. So suck it.” She popped another finger-scoop of food into her mouth.
Arizona snickered and twirled the empty glass around in her hand. Callie had just dipped her finger into the bowl for a fourth time and was now sucking on it again.
Slowly.
Arizona bit her bottom lip.
It took a moment, but Callie finally noticed her lover's stare. “Whaf?” she mumbled around the digit before pulling it from her mouth, frowning.
An alluring smile began to work its way over Arizona’s lips, and she slowly set her glass aside next to the sink. She took Callie’s away and did the same. “Let me try some of that.”
Callie shrugged and pushed the bowl over to Arizona, but not before taking another swipe along the rim again. Before she could lift it to her mouth, however, Arizona reached over and stopped her arm from moving. Callie watched in rapt fascination as the blonde directed the all-too-willing hand up to her lips and slowly sucked the salad-covered finger into her mouth.
A sharp jolt ran through Callie’s entire body, just with that one simple act alone.
Jesus fuck. Did Arizona have any idea what that did to her?
Of course she did. They'd been together long enough for her to know. And she still did it anyway.
“Arizona,” Callie warned with a low, deepening growl. “Don't start something if you're not gonna finish it.” She kept her dark eyes locked on the smoky blue across from her as the blonde continued to softly suck on her finger.
Arizona’s smirk remained firmly in place as she very slowly pulled the digit from her lips, playfully nipping at the tip of it. “Since when have I ever started something and not finished?” The look in her eyes was purely mischievous and simply dared Callie to try and resist.
Callie swallowed. Hard.
Arizona gave the hand in hers a sudden jerk, strong enough to send Callie crashing into her body. Her free arm snaked around her girlfriend’s waist she kissed her way along the woman’s wrist and forearm, before skipping up to her shoulder and neck. All the while, Arizona pushed forward until Callie backpedaled and collided with the far kitchen wall. Their lips crashed together in a heated kiss not a full second later.
The brunette gasped in surprise, but still managed to push back into it with just as much passion as she received. Her right hand moved down to rest on Arizona's hip. “We're supposed to be celebrating,” she whispered huskily.
Arizona just smiled into the kiss.
Callie felt the gesture against her lips and offered one in return. “Oh,” she chuckled deeply, sliding the hand down from Arizona's hip to rest over her ass. “Right.”
Smirking with a sense of all-knowing superiority in that moment, Arizona moved her kisses back down along Callie’s neck. “You’re cute when you’re slow, too.” She jumped at the light swat against her rump, giggling.
“You’re gonna be so beautiful pregnant, baby,” Arizona murmured against another spot on Callie’s neck, before pulling back and capturing her lips once more. Her left hand pushed up underneath her girlfriend’s shirt and rested against her abdomen.
Callie chuckled softly. “Gettin' in some...early...suck-up practice?” she whispered brokenly, in between kisses.
Arizona simply smiled again.
Callie squeezed her girlfriend’s firm bottom a second time. “Think it's a little early to sweet talk me through a crazy-hormonal meltdown.” She placed one last lingering kiss on those perfect lips before pulling back to blink open darkened brown eyes. “Not even pregnant yet.” Her hand flexed again on instinct.
“You are,” Arizona instantly shot back, pulling away from Callie’s lips to fix her with a look.
“Maybe,” Callie relented with a little smile. “We still need the official ‘okay’.”
“You’re pregnant,” Arizona stated, leaning in to nuzzle softly against Callie’s ear. “I can feel it. And if any one of the two of us would know, it’s me. I’m the baby whisperer, remember?”
That made Callie laugh. “Oh, okay. Right. Because I would have no idea, being the one who’s supposedly ‘with child’ and all. My opinion counts for shit.”
“Exactly.” Arizona grinned and planted another hard kiss over top of Callie’s smirk. “You’re pregnant. Tomorrow is just a formality and makes it even more official that it already is to me.” The playfulness and lust of minutes before were still present, but the look of adoration in Arizona’s eyes over-rode everything.
She adored Callie, and couldn’t fight the overwhelming joy she felt inside at the knowledge that she was carrying their first child.
Callie's soft smile slowly returned, her insides fluttering under the other woman’s intense gaze. Those blue eyes were never any less than piercing when they looked directly at her like that. “Me too,” she whispered lovingly, reaching up to brush a strand of blonde behind Arizona's ear.
This, right here, was all she ever needed. Nothing more.
“Forget the food,” Callie whispered gently. “Your parents are coming early tomorrow morning.” She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “We should really...get to bed.”
Arizona’s bottom lip did the opposite and stuck out in a pout. “I’m trying to seduce you here, Torres. You’re killing my buzz with talk of things that don’t matter.”
“Zona,” Callie chided gently. “You know how much this matters to your dad. He’s barely able to leave the hotel these days, he’s really looking forward to seeing us for breakfast.” She watched as something changed in her partner, the light in her eyes fading almost immediately as a guarded expression carefully slipped into its place.
Arizona sighed and suddenly pulled back from Callie entirely, turning away. “I know, I know. I’m just…yeah, I’m tired. Bed is a good idea.”
Left cold, aching and more than a little shocked at the sudden one-eighty, Callie’s mouth parted slightly as Arizona moved away from her, watching as the blonde’s demeanor changed completely from moments ago. That seemed to happen a lot these days, every time the subject of Colonel Robbins came up. She couldn’t understand why Arizona had been avoiding her parents when it was clear she might not have much time left to spend with her father.
“Arizona?” she called softly, frowning as she studied her closely.
Arizona grabbed the bowl of pasta salad and placed it back in the fridge, refusing to look over at Callie. “You go ahead, I need to make a few quick calls to check up on some patient progress. I’ll be right behind you.” She picked up the wine glasses and set them in the sink, staring down with a vacant look in her eyes.
Callie blinked, still a little stunned. This was about as far from naked and moaning as they could get, and that just wasn’t sitting right with her. “Arizona,” she tried again when the blonde turned towards the phone. “Are you serious?”
Arizona picked it up and paused, glancing back at Callie. “What?”
Callie smiled in disbelief. “I didn't mean 'bed' as in 'sleep'.” She paused for a moment, but it was clear her girlfriend still wasn't getting it. “Sex, Arizona,” she sighed. “I meant I wanted to have sex. In bed. With you. Preferably naked. Possibly more than once.”
Arizona blinked, glancing at the phone in her hand with a frown and then back up at the other woman. “I…oh.” She frowned in confusion.
Callie pushed off of the wall and slowly, carefully approached. “Sweetie, are you okay?” Brown eyes shone with concern.
It was with a light blush that Arizona placed the phone back onto its cradle and turned to give her a small, sheepish grin. “Sorry, I…” She trailed off, feeling like a bit of an idiot. “I’m off my game, apparently.” That didn’t happen very often. Or at least, it didn’t used to. These days she felt completely ‘off’, like her game was in another ball park all together.
Swallowing hard, she slowly stepped back toward Callie and placed a hand on her side. “Can we try that again?” She bit her bottom lip, looking kind of tentative.
Callie shook her head one last time, leaning in to place a gentle, lingering kiss against those irresistible lips. “C’mon.” She slipped an arm around Arizona’s slender waist and guided her in the direction of their bedroom. “We should make sure you knocked me up extra good, just in case.”
Arizona found herself smiling just the slightest bit. “I can do that.”
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