Title: Worth It
Author: A. Windsor
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it's pretty useless. So please don't sue; it's not mine, I'm just playing!
Summary: Baby #3 is nothing but trouble. But she's totally worth it.
Author's Note: You guys are so spoiled. Two chapters! Two long chapters! So, I just kind of skip over all medicine here, because I didn't want wrong medicine to take away from the storyline. Again, necessary Spanish translations in brackets. (Do y'all like that format?) but I let context clues do some talking, too.
Lena is singing "Rudolph" very loudly but mostly correctly while she and Asa splash around in the bath, enjoying the extra space afforded by using their mothers' big soaking tub. It's a special treat because Mami is running late trying to get ready for her date with Momma and this way she can supervise bath time and blow her hair dry at the same time. Thank goodness at five and recently three they've yet to object to bathing together, as that would just make this more of a logistical nightmare.
"Mami," Asa speaks up. "Podemos watch a movie con Lindsey?"
"Rudolph!" Lena exclaims.
Callie grins, finally feeling a little better. She'd been woozy and exhausted all day, which is why she's running late in the first place. They say third time's the charm, but Baby #3 has been the worst of her pregnancies, even six months into it.
"Yes, you can watch one movie when Miss Lindsey gets here. No, it can't be Rudolph because if you watch it any more, Leni, you will actually turn into a reindeer."
"Cool," Lena grins as Asa pulls his soapy curls into limp antlers. "Oh, me too, Asa! Quiero ser un reindeer."
Asa obliges with a wide smile, and Callie laughs at the pair, turning the blow dryer on them, which causes quite a bit of squealing as the hot air hits their wet skin.
The front door squeaks open.
"Who's making all that racket?"
Callie turns the hair dryer off and makes an overdramatic surprise face at Lena, who obliges with one of her own. Asa actually rolls his eyes (the impertinence!) but is grinning wildly with excitement at his momma's arrival.
"Uh oh! Momma's home. Better get clean quick!" Callie encourages.
There's a fair bit of splashing as the kids try their best to wash the soap off of them, popping up from under the water and throwing cups of water onto each other's heads.
Callie snorts at their antics, rubbing a hand at the persistent ache that's been troubling her lower back all day. She's been trying her best to ignore it, because their favorite babysitter is finally available tonight and it's their first date night in two months. Nothing is stopping her from going out with her wife tonight, not even (or maybe especially because of?) the fact that pregnancy has made the cleavage on this dress practically pornographic.
"What, is going on in here?" Arizona demands in the bathroom doorway, hands on her hips.
"We're clean, Momma! We're clean!" newly-three-year-old Lena announces.
"I see that. Asa, pull that plug. Bathtime's over." She turns to greet Callie and pauses, smiling appreciatively. "Nice dress. Really nice dress. Give me a few minutes to pj 'em up and then I'll change. Lindsey texted me a few minutes ago to say she's on her way."
"Yay!" the kids chorus their excitement over the "awesome" Miss Lindsey as Arizona grabs the towels to wrap them up, extracting each with raspberry to the neck.
"Run, naked babies! Run up to your jammies. Carefully, because your feet are wet." Arizona turns to grin at Callie. "You finish getting sexier. We will be right back."
Callie manages a smile as Arizona hurries after them, but it quickly falls as she moves to sit on the edge of the draining bathtub. The dizziness came back full force in the chaos of Arizona's arrival, and the pain is just getting sharper. Determined to power through this so they can get one good date in before the insanity of rapidly approaching Christmas sets in, Callie takes a deep breath, and the world goes black.
"Dr. Robbins. Dr. Robbins. Arizona!"
Alex lets his voice get firmer than it usually would with his boss, but keeps it soft enough to not worry the children in the room.
When she turns her blue eyes to acknowledge him, their usual brightness is gone, replaced with a worry that wrinkles her brow and takes away her light.
"Let me take the kids for awhile," he says more gently. "Get 'em out of the hospital. Get 'em dinner. You guys like McDonald's, right, Lena?"
The three-year-old on Arizona's hip, a pretty little blonde with pigtails and her mother's dimples, smiles weakly and nods.
"I..." Arizona begins to protest.
"I got this," Alex assures her, holding his arms out as an invitation for his boss's mini-me. "You just focus on Torres, okay? Addison'll be here soon, and she's the best."
Arizona nods, passing Lena into Alex's arms. She knows she shouldn't be surprised at how comfortable her children are with Karev; he is her protégé after all, they spend a lot of time together, and she trusts him enough to care for her patients, which allows her the freedom to actually be a parent. Still, it's just a little weird. But she's grateful for it.
"Hey, Acer," Karev calls for the five-year-old curled up with a gameboy in the nearby chair, unconsciously using Sloan's nickname for the boy. "We're gonna go grab a burger while your moms wait for Dr. Montgomery."
"Aunt Addy's gonna wanna see me," he says seriously, even as he pulls himself out of the chair.
"She'll be around, Asa," Arizona says, managing a reassuring smile for her oldest as she extends her hand for the gaming device. "Game, please."
"Momma..."
"Nope. You're going to McDonald's with Karev. You need to play with your sister."
Asa turns it over with no further protest.
"What if Mami needs us?" Asa asks, flicking his eyes (Callie's endlessly dark eyes) over to his other mother, still asleep in a hospital bed. She's been drifting in and out of sleep since Dr. Fletcher stabilized her and the baby twenty-four hours ago, but they won't be out of the woods until Addison comes to work her magic.
"Karev will bring you right back if Mami needs you. Right, Dr. Karev?"
"Right," Alex assures the floppy-haired boy.
"Karev," Lena says importantly, tugging insistently on his ear to get his attention. "If they ask, I have to get a boy toy."
Despite everything, Arizona gives a little laugh at that.
"Oh yeah, why?" Alex asks, ushering Asa out the door with a reassuring nod to his boss.
"Bye, Momma!" Asa calls over his shoulder, echoed by his little sister. "It's 'cause she has to have everything just like me."
"Asa, no fighting!" Arizona reminds.
"No, Lena! Tienes que saltar the McNuggets and flip over las papas," [You have to jump the McNuggets and flip over the fries,] Asa complains as the two Robbins-Torres kids play on the fiberglass table with their Happy Meal Hotwheels cars. Asa has set up a little obstacle course that is well beyond three-year-old Lena's attention span.
"Whoa, hey. I didn't get all of that, but you gotta cut her a little slack. She's just a baby."
"Not a baby!" Lena complains, indignant.
"Sorry, sorry. She's just younger, and she can play with her car however she wants. In fact, how about you go play in the Habitrail stuff for a bit?"
"The what?" Asa questions.
Alex gestures to the slides and crawlspaces of the indoor playground.
"'Kay," Lena shrugs happily, hopping off her chair.
"Hey, go keep an eye on her," Alex suggests gruffly when Asa doesn't move.
Asa rolls his eyes grandly but does as he's told.
"Wait up, Leni!"
For all their bickering, Asa and Lena get along very well, deep in the bowels of the Habitrail.
They're good kids, and Alex finds that somehow in the last ten years he's become pretty close to the Robbins-Torres clan. As Arizona's go-to attending, his professional respect for Roller Girl has morphed into personal admiration, and Torres is pretty hard not to like. And a damn fine cook, a fact that means he tries his best to finagle a dinner invite at least once every few months, on the rare occasion he and Robbins get the same night off.
So he didn't mean to become friends with them, but now he is, at least sort of, so he's babysitting their kids and worrying whether or not Torres and Baby #3 are going to make it, and he really never meant that. Addison is on it, probably already taking Callie into surgery, he reassures himself the same way he tried to calm his boss earlier.
"Hey, Karev."
"Altman," he greets the cardio attending with a nod.
"Came to relieve you if you need it. How've they been?" Teddy asks as she settles herself on the uncomfortable metal chair.
"Fine. What's the word on Torres?"
"Montgomery came in just after you left and confirmed the diagnosis. They're headed into surgery now."
"That's good. Addison's the best."
"I know." Teddy's brow is still drawn with worry. "Even if the surgery's a success, Callie's going to have to be on bed rest until she's full term."
"Torres not breaking bones? She'll go stir crazy."
"Aunt Teddy!" Lena exclaims happily as she pops out of the slide.
"Aunt Teddy?" Asa questions, voice muffled by the plastic.
Lena's already given Teddy a flying hug by the time Asa's tousled head emerges from the slide.
"Hi," Lena beams, grabbing at Teddy's face. She loves her godmother so.
"Hi, you," Teddy greets, settling Lena into her lap. Asa gives her a less enthusiastic but no less affectionate hug that she returns with one arm.
"Where's Momma? How's Mami? Is Aunt Addy here?"
"Whoa, one at a time, buddy," Alex calms him.
"What 'bout nuestra hermanita?" Lena adds.
"Aunt Addison is here. She's with your moms. Your little sister is okay. Your aunt is going to fix them up."
"Is she getting an operation?" Asa asks, brow knitting.
"She is. And do you know what Momma needs to cheer her up while she waits?"
"Her munchkins!" Lena supplies.
Alex shoots Teddy a questioning look. Teddy nods firmly.
"That's right. I think Aunt Lexie and Baby Grey are with her right now, so they need help."
"Let's go!" Asa exclaims.
"Gotta clean up first," Alex reminds them.
They agree with only the most minor complaining, dumping their trash in the trashcan. They gather their myriad hats and scarves to bundle up for the early December walk back to the hospital. Lena then pouts her way onto Teddy's hip.
"Wanna ride, Asa?" Alex sighs. The boy nods eagerly, and Alex lets him clamber onto his back for the brief trip.
Callie Torres slowly fights her way back to consciousness.
"Good morning, sunshine."
She groans a little, opening her eyes.
"Mark?"
Not exactly the first person she was really hoping to see. Not even in the top three. Remembering why she's here, her hand falls immediately to her stomach, worry building.
"Baby's fine. You're fine. And you'll keep being fine as long as you stay off your feet," Mark says softly.
"Where's...?"
Mark points to the over-sized recliner in the opposite corner, where Arizona sleeps with both of their kids cuddled up on top of her.
"She wouldn't leave, and Acer and Baby Blondie wouldn't go home without her. Grey even asked Lena real sweetly if she'd have a sleepover."
Callie groans. "Your son needs to stop hitting on my daughter."
"He likes older women, like someone I know," Mark grins as he stands to wake Arizona and page Addison.
"Let her sleep," Callie shakes her head.
"Really? Because Roller Girl will kill me, you know. She's been looking for an excuse for years."
"Well, take a picture first," Callie grins sleepily, stupidly, at her adorable little family. She adds, deliberately nonchalant, "Oh, and tell me when Lexie's due."
"What? Hey! We haven't told anyone yet. And how is this the first thing you think of?"
"Because I'm thinking about how nicely spaced our kids are."
Mark laughs. "She's three months along. We're hoping for a girl."
"That would be nice, though Asa and Grey'll be outnumbered two to five counting the Shepherd girls."
"They'll be better for it."
Mark leans over to extract Lena from Arizona's grip.
"Hey, Blondie, your woman's awake," he says gently, settling Lena onto one shoulder.
Arizona is awake instantly: surgeon's (and mother's) instincts. She gives a relieved smile when she meets Callie's eyes. She quickly gets up, trying her best to not wake Asa. The boy grunts his annoyance but quickly settles into the warm spot left by his mother. Mark sets Lena back down next to him and goes to get Addison from the on-call room.
"Calliope," she grins breathlessly, immediately pressing a kiss to her lips.
"You look like hell," Callie says hoarsely, beaming as she takes Arizona's face in her hands. Her eyes dart to Arizona's shoulder, and she points to a dark spot with a wry twist of her lips. "And you have Lena-drool."
"You look radiant," Arizona whispers reverently, pressing her forehead to Callie's, eyes closed. "And you're okay, and the baby's okay. I'm just going to have to chain you to our bed for the next three months, and not in the fun way."
"Arizona..."
"And if I kiss Addison, don't be jealous, she just..."
"Arizona."
Arizona's eyes pop open, wide and wet.
"Oh, baby, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I know this is just what you..."
"Don't. It's worth it. I was so scared. I am so scared. But, but it's so worth it."
As if knowing she and her brother are being spoken of, Lena snores, the sound muffled by the pacifier they haven't broken her of yet.
Arizona laughs, and Callie wipes her tears.
"How are you feeling?" Arizona asks.
"Good. Good. Oh, hey!" She grabs Arizona's hand and presses it into her belly. "She's saying hi. She wants her Momma to know she's okay, too. And that her big sis snores like a fifty-year-old man."
Arizona smiles at the fluttering kicks against her palm.
"I called your mom," she admits reluctantly. "And my mom."
"You what?"
"Your mom is taking the jet here as we speak. She's stopping to pick up my mom."
"You what?" Callie repeats.
"Don't be mad. You're going to be on bed rest, and we have two very active kids. We need all hands on deck. I at least talked Grandpa and Abuelito into staying home. For now."
"I'm not mad. Annoyed that I have to spend three months in a bed, yes. But like you said, worth it."
"Worth it," Arizona nods, punctuating her words with a brief, chaste kiss. "She's just her mother's daughter. Has to make an entrance."
"Hey!"
"What? It's not my fault. You can only blame me for that little angel over there."
Their little Arizona clone snuffles a little more in her sleep, rolling onto her brother. Asa sleeps on, oblivious as he receives another blow to the ribs.
"Yep. Lena's you. Sleep abuse and everything."
"Hey," Addison interrupts gently from the doorway. "You're up. That's a great sign."
"And I hear I'm gonna be in this bed for the next few months."
"I'm afraid so. Well, you can be at home after a day or two. I hear the grandmas are on the way for maximum spoiling."
"This is sounding more and more like torture."
"Yeah, but at the end..."
"It's worth it," Callie and Arizona finish for her.
"Well, I'm going to go sleep at your house, because on-call rooms are really only good for one thing. Since I'm sure I can't convince you to come with me," Addison directs to Arizona, "Can I at least take one of the kids?"
"Take Asa; he has soccer in the afternoon. Derek said he'll take him with Ally and Katie," Arizona instructs, moving to embrace Addison again. She whispers, "Thank you."
"Hey, no kissing. She's hot!" Callie teases
Arizona grins, dimples on full display as she slowly, dramatically places a kiss on Addison's cheek.
Addison laughs and goes to check Callie's chart as Arizona moves to get Asa.
"Asa," she says gently, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Asa, Aunt Addy's here. She wants to take you home to keep her company."
The boy's dark eyes flutter open, and he gives his momma a big, warm smile. Arizona can't help but beam back, brushing his nose with her own.
"Told you she'd want to see me," he says smugly.
"Yeah, well, I have another surprise for you."
"Good morning, m'ijo."
"Mami," he grins sweetly, scrambling out from under his sister. Lena takes no notice of the jostling.
Arizona puts him on her hip (though he's probably far too big for that) and brings him to Callie.
"¿Cómo te sientes, Mami? Did Aunt Addy fix you and nuestra hermanita?"
"She did. But that made her very sleepy, so you have to go home and be a good host while Momma and I stay here."
"Y Lena?"
"She's gonna stay here for now, so you can have alone time with your madrina. And Derek is going to pick you up and take you to fútbol with Ally and Katie."
"Okay. But Momma, you're in charge," he intones seriously, turning his face back to Arizona.
"Hey, why is she in charge, nene? Why can't I be in charge?"
"You're sick. Lena's a baby. Momma's in charge."
"I like the sound of that," Arizona grins playfully.
"Not okay, m'ijo," Callie pouts.
"Oh, don't be sad, Mami. Te quiero."
Asa leans out of Arizona's arms to plant a big kiss on Callie's lips.
"That's my sweet boy. Such a good cuddle monkey," Arizona praises, giving him a big squeeze after he's done.
"Okay, Asa, be good for Aunt Addy," Callie orders gently.
"Ready to go, buddy?" Addy says warmly to her godson, taking his hand as Arizona puts him down.
"Yep. Bye Momma! Bye Mami!" Asa says as she leads him out. "I missed you, Aunt Addy."
"Oh, I missed you, too, Asa!"
tbc