It had been two months since Callie won the Award, and other than having the trophy displayed atop the fireplace mantle for everyone to see, Callie hadn't really talked much about it. She told Arizona she didn't want the recognition to overtake her career the way it had for so many other doctors. But, it was already happening. Despite their best efforts, any time Callie walked into a room it seemed her reputation introduced itself first. And, if the orthopedic wing expansion hadn't attracted a boat load of new potential hires already, her winning the Harper Avery surely had given Callie all the hiring power she could have ever asked for. Just in the first week Owen had already accepted six new surgical interns as transfers from other programs. It was amazing, it was everything Callie ever wanted, but it was also overwhelming. She'd often catch herself sitting in her office staring into space and trying, without luck, to theorize the likelihood that April Kepner would be able to handle all of this on her own at some point. It wasn't very likely. Not that April couldn't hold her own, but Callie knew if she could barely manage the sudden rush of work ahead of them, it would be next to impossible for April or any other doctor to manage on their own.

So far today, the only thing she had to look forward to, and it was a big thing, huge even, was that it was May 5th. It was May 5th and, barring a complete catastrophe, Arizona and Callie would be celebrating on an actual beach this year. All Callie had to do was post the new surgical plan for the next week, check on meet up with Carson to check on his progress, take some new scans and fax them over to Teddy at MEDCOM. She'd delegated everything else, including the new interns, especially the new interns, to April, there was no way she was going to miss today.

Arizona, on the other hand, had the sort of schedule that couldn't be delegated to other surgeons. Two little boys who'd been left at home while their parents were at work somehow accidentally managed to set themselves on fire, the way children accidentally managed to do almost anything imaginable when left unsupervised. So, she'd been working with Jackson since 10am just to remove the dead and rotting tissue and keep the swelling to a minimum. She'd promised she'd find a way to make it out by six, but they hadn't even assessed any organ damage yet, so it was starting to feel less and less likely. They'd covered both boys in lukewarm blankets that needed to be changed every half hour. This also meant that every half hour someone had to go in and peel back the blankets, get completely immersed in the smell of rotting flesh. Bag the dead skin to dispose of it, and then wrap the boys up again. It was her lunch hour now, but after all that she didn't have much of an appetite. Instead, she just sat in the attending break room with Jackson going over their most likely course of action.

"the younger one's got to be the most critical" Jackson started. "He's got signs of pulmonary organ distress, and from the bruising around his chest I suspect cardiac tissue damage."

Arizona knew his assessment was correct, she'd already settled in her head that she would need to get Cristina on board at some point. The problem was, they couldn't operate until the little boy stabilized and there was no telling when that would be, but it wasn't looking like anytime today. The other brother was another story entirely. He seemed to have suffered only cosmetic damage, but it was extensive in scope. There were burns everywhere and not enough healthy tissue on the child to cover the amount of grafting he would require. They were getting ahead of themselves though, They still hadn't even spoken to the parents.

"We'll just have to wait and see if they make it through tonight." Arizona reminded Jackson.

"Isn't today your anniversary? Do you want to head down to Ortho and let Dr. Torres know? I can catch you up." Jackson offered.

They sat there in silence for a while, waiting for the next change so that the nurses could update them on the status of their patients. Riley and Skylar, those were their names. Arizona had been so busy trying to set up a treatment plan she was mostly using pronouns and injuries to identify the boys, but in this short pause, she had the forethought to remind herself that those boys had names, names their parents gave them. And, because she was a parent too, she knew those boys had to be at the top of her list. All thoughts of trying to make it out in time went out the window.

"No, it's alright" Arizona assured him, "she'll understand."

A short while later a nurse came in to announce that Skylar was ready for them in OR 4. Skylar, the older brother, looked to be about ten and had a head full of curly blond hair. His hair seemed to be about the only thing attached to his head that hadn't been scared by fire, but he had it easy compared to was already 2pm by then and Arizona needed an hour just to get her team ready. They weren't going to be able to work on Riley today; his condition hadn't improved much and Arizona made the decision to place him in an induced coma. They got out of the scrub room and into the OR in record time

The minute Arizona pulled Skylar's sheets back to get a better look, she found herself at a loss for words.

"What the hell were they doing?

"the neighbors said bottle rockets" Jackson answered. "you cut a hole in the bottom of a soda bottle, put a fuse stick in there…"

"Is it combustible ?"

Jackson nodded his confirmation.

"Well, that's smart!" Arizona sighed.

It wasn't anything they couldn't manage in one or two hours. They'd do a procedure to keep the loose skin from his eyelids from falling into his eyes and causing infection. Then another procedure to graft some artificial skin where the bad tissue had fallen away, hopefully that would encourage the generation of new healthy tissue. That should have been all of it, except that the boys had working parents, and working parents were hard to get a hold of. Beyond the standard medical treatment to sustain life, Arizona wouldn't be able to do anything until she got some form of consent from someone. So, they waited, and waited some more. They were too scared to leave the OR because every second counted, but for now, they were just waiting.

~~~~~XX~~~~~

Callie sat in the living room waiting. They'd agreed already on the time and place so all that was left was for Arizona to get there so that they could get going. Still, she couldn't help being nervous about the whole thing. She was nervous because Arizona was running late; she was nervous because the babysitter backed out and she had to get Amelia to substitute last minute; most of all though, Callie was nervous because they'd developed a track record every May 5th and she was starting to think the universe hated their anniversary. She watched patiently as Sofia played with a set of wooden blocks on the living room floor. The little girl seemed angry at the blocks and had been persistently banging them against each other for the better part of ten minutes. She didn't dare attempt to join in the fun as Sofia wasn't the type to share her toys.

Callie wasn't even worried when Amelia arrived to pick up Sofia and she still hadn't heard from Arizona. Arizona promised they were going to make it this year and unlike the other years there were no reasons or excuses to keep them from doing exactly that. No one was running away from their problems this time, and really, that had been the root of their problem in the first place. Her optimism reaffirmed Callie went back to back to prepping Sofia's carry bag for Amelia.

Amelia, who seemed unfazed by the death-stare she'd earned from Sofia for daring to play with her favorite teddy bear, had her own ideas about why Arizona was running late.

"Robbins is just screwing with your head" she explained, "She keeps me waiting all the time in the OR, at the cafeteria, holds my lab results hostage for no reason at all, she's a real power hungry control freak."

Callie rolled her eyes in disturbance as she handed the now fully loaded carry bag over to Amelia.

"Hey, the crazy control freak is my wife" she countered, "You really think she's trying to psych me out?"

Amelia picked Sofia up and got knocked in the head by a block in the process. "I don't know, it's what I would do."

Callie took a second to consider Arizona's words. It was just a second and not much longer, not because Amelia lacked any cohesive sense of clarity, which she did, but that wasn't the reason. Callie hadn't interacted with Amelia much, but from the few encounters she could count she got the sense early on that Amelia was the sort of person to spew out whatever was on her mind and leave it to everyone else to decipher her meaning. So, Amelia's latest ruminations never had any real credibility where Callie was concerned. What did manage to pull her away from her thoughts was the sound of her phone buzzing, the standard alert for a new text message.

It was from Arizona, and it was simple and to the point: running late at work don't worry. They were doctors, this was a standard message to receive. Well, not completely anyway but just a little bit. Just slightly, only in the way that someone might worry they forgot to lock their house door before leaving for the day; she couldn't help it. Still, she wasn't really worried, even twenty minutes later when she was still waiting and Amelia started to question her resolve. Callie wasn't worried until the second text message came that read: Hold up in hospital, meet you there. Since they had already determined that they were going to make it this year Callie didn't wait long after that to get her things and leave. She turned to Amelia on the sofa who had been bouncing Sofia in her lap.

"My daughter is alive and healthy, please keep her that way" she instructed before kissing the little girl's cheek and hopping out the door.

~~~~~XX~~~~~

Arizona beat Callie to Elliot Bay by about twenty-four minutes. It was just enough time to make sure everything had been set up the way she wanted. She'd had a hard enough time getting out of work and was thankful when Baily barged into the attending lounge and insisted that she was taking over her case load. So, she raced down to the bay and got there with twenty-four minutes to spare. The deck was perfectly placed just close enough to the shore line that they could hear the water and feel a comfortable mist as the waves crashed around them. She could see the sun beginning to set just ahead of her. It wasn't an exotic island, but it was a beach and there was a table set up for a sunset dinner with wine and candles and Callie's favorite dishes, and, once Callie got there, it would be perfect.

So, when she heard Callie's sandals kicking up sand and softly making a swishing sound as she made her way toward the deck where Arizona had been sitting and waiting, Arizona couldn't help the mile long smile that crept across her face. And then there was her voice, even as she was approaching from behind Arizona could tell Callie was smiling too. They made it, and it was beautiful out; the perfect night for a beach front anniversary dinner.

"You rented a house? I didn't know we were renting a beach house. I thought we'd, you know spread a blanket…"

Callie paused mid-ramble just long enough to take in the view. "This is beautiful."

Since Callie had been so caught up that she completely forgot to say hello, Arizona took it upon herself to get up and greet her wife with a kiss.

"You really want to spread a blanket on the sand, that just sounds messy and wrong. What if you got sand in your pasta?"

Arizona had straightened her hair and sometime between being rushed out of the hospital by an insistent Baily and arriving at the beach house she managed to change into a navy blue mini-dress with a ridiculously high slit up the left side. In short, she looked Amazing and Callie definitely noticed. She was so busy noticing, in fact, that she barely touched her food the whole night.

After dinner Arizona did get a blanket out and they sat out by the water wrapped in each other's arms watching the waves for a while.

"This is perfect" Callie sighed into Arizona's ear. She hummed melodically with a hint of satisfaction while Arizona rested her head against Callie's shoulder.

"We could stay here" It came out faster and with more eagerness than Arizona intended. But she was excited.

"For the night?" Callie questioned, "Are you sure? Cause, I left Sofia with Amelia"

"No, I mean we could have this every day" Arizona corrected.

"We do have this every day, I do." It was true, Callie didn't need a grand gesture or a big getaway. She was just happy whenever they had a moment to relax together. "Besides where would we live? I don't do boats."

It was a nice sentiment, and Callie definitely meant every word of it, but Arizona knew if Callie had any idea what she was saying she'd take it back in a heartbeat.

"So, if you had the chance to wake up to this view every morning you'd turn it down?"

Sure enough, Callie changed her tune just slightly, which made Arizona chuckle just a little "Of course not, are you kidding me this place is gorgeous" "but this is the coastline, no one's every selling here"

"What if they were?" Arizona proposed then pulled a manila envelope out, opened it up and took out a small set of papers. "What if all you had to do was sign here?"

She waited a while for Callie to process what she was asking

"You know you don't want to go back to that apartment. I don't want to go back to that apartment. It doesn't feel like home anymore."

Arizona was calm in her explanation and Callie could see that she'd been thinking about it for a while.

"Sofia shouldn't be there either, it's just too confusing"

Callie tried to speak but every time she was prematurely cut off by an enthused and impassioned Arizona. The only thing she could think of doing was cutting her off with a kiss, and so she did.

"Can I just look at it first?" Callie finally got off with a smile.

They managed their way through the kitchen and the large sitting area with vaulted ceilings, then up the spiral staircase to the master bedroom. But that was as much of a tor as Callie was ever going to get. She walked in, saw the bed in front of them and suddenly felt terribly distracted. Arizona didn't mind, if she was being honest she'd admit that leading Callie to the bedroom was always a part of her plan.

"So, have you made up your mind?" Arizona asked about an hour later while Callie was still busy trying to convince her to go for round three.

"Oh, we are definitely buying this house." Callie stammered before going back to trailing kisses down Arizona's neck. "Let's spend the night, I feel like having a private house warming party."

Arizona ran her fingers through Callie's hair and smiled.

"Sorry no, you left my baby with a crazy woman and I'm not going to be able to sleep until she is far, far away from Amelia Shepherd."

Then, they just stayed there wrapped up in a mess of bed sheets and each other, not wanting to move from the spot they were in because it was perfect. For once, everything was just perfect flaws and all.

Thank You for reading. There's just one last chapter left. Reviews are welcome and encouraged