The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona

Great Expectations

Arizona's POV:

We said goodbye to Aria, a few days after our girls night. She had to return to Miami to pack up some of her things and say goodbye to everyone. 

Turns out her Mother was not pleased with her decision to move to Seattle and never said a formal goodbye to her before she left town. In fact, their Mother didn't even attend the "Going Away" party that Carlos threw. He, of course, hugged her, told her he loved her and to call him if she needed anything.

It's a wonder to me why either of the Torres sisters care about their Mother and her one sided opinions. While I realize it is their Mother, I personally didn't want her to hurt Callie anymore, or potentially hurt our daughter. While I can handle Lucia's dislike of me, it hurts me to watch Callie suffer from the mental abuse she exacts.

The next couple of weeks were typical. Callie and I went back to work while Sophia was finishing up her 3rd grade year and was eagerly awaiting Summer vacation to start. We wished we could take more time off with her during the break, but we were always too busy to take much time off. To assuage our guilt though, we always signed Soph up for lots of fun classes and activities. Usually Zola joins her, so they both have a buddy.

Our daughter had already requested to go to Summer camp with Zola for a week. Only, the Summer camp she requested, looked more like a 4 star resort. It was spendy, but we knew they would have fun with one another during their week away.

Soph also requested taking some art classes, horseback riding, joining a soccer team, learning how to sail, taking archery lessons and possibly taking gymnastics. I had to smile at her high expectations for her off time, but we decided with my parent's help, most of her grandiose plans were doable.

Callie had just finished her research project at work and had hired another Ortho doctor to help her run the department and coordinate surgeries. The physician was going to be the 2nd in command, so to speak. We were anticipating down the line if we needed to take a leave of absence for any reason, it would be advantageous to groom someone we would trust. 

Callie had hired Laura Wheeler, MD, the Ortho doc from Olympia that treated and operated on my Mom, not long ago. We were both impressed with her skills and compassion, something Callie jokingly takes full credit for since she trained her, of course.

I had already hired my 2nd in command, last year, well before Callie came back into my life. Her name is Kimberly Taylor and she came out of Hopkins, just like me. I noticed her skill set early on and took her under my wing so she too could run my department in my absence. 

At this point after a year, Kim had really taken a load off my shoulders in terms of the busy, day-to-day tasks. She had even pitched in and co-authored my recent grant proposal for providing healthcare in Seattle to children whose parents could not afford to pay for their treatment. I was hoping to get additional money for my department to use on a case to case basis and that maybe I could get more donations as the program grew. 

Even though it was a worthy proposal, that's the one thing Callie and I dislike about being head of our departments, the need to always panhandle for donations whenever we could. Sometimes, you just want to be a doctor and not an accountant.

I was sitting in my office that sunny, June day, when Meredith stopped by.

"Hey Arizona, how's married life treating you both?" She was smiling as she asked and sat down in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

"Pretty much like unmarried life, but it is different this time. Callie and I have a deep connection after all these years and an unwavering desire for our continued commitment to each other. I thought we already had a great deal of passion between us, but it has really grown even since the wedding, 3 weeks ago. I think just knowing we are both in this for the long haul, has made us even stronger and more confident than we already were with our love."