Chapter 7
"He's in this cooperative that provides social assistance for needy families. They are all very qualified." Pauleen explained.
"Okay, let me write it down then. Robert from.. Baltimore's Heavenly Sky, right?" Arizona asked for confirmation as she pull out her phone from her armband.
"Yes, Robert Jacobs."
Arizona and Pauleen have been jogging for almost an hour and they were running around the park to cross it and reach Arizona's neighborhood.
"Thanks! I feel kinda useless cause this woman is really kind," she toke a breath "and lovely, but not so young and she has lost his son and she is practically on her own..."
"I really think Robert can help you!"
Pauleen began to slow down and she approached the fountain to take a sip of water.
"Anyway.." She ran her arm over her mouth to dry it. "I was thinking that this running thing is pretty good for me! I feel more energetic than ever! Sex is... Overrated! You made me discover a whole new world!"
"It went that bad last night with... What was her name, Hannah?"
Her friend nodded "I'm here with you this morning, so yeah.."
Arizona laughed and placed her hands on her bent legs, trying to catch her breath.
Pauleen, instead, sat on the grass and started massaging her calves. "Celibacy and miles. This will be my new lifestyle!"
"Yeah.." The blonde commented doubtful. She smirked "Sure.."
Suddenly they heard a high voice crying behind them. They both turned and saw a little girl on all fours on the ground who wasn't able to pull herself up.
Arizona instinctively approached and recognized her as Sofia. She looked around but there was no shadow of Mark. What to do?
She tried to get some help from her friend who, raising her hands, said her "Ahh, you're the pediatrician! That's your field!"
She certainly didn't want to look like a child-stealer, or to step over anyone. So she decided to squat in front of the kid, and saying "Hi sweetie!" she lifted her to her feet. Sofia calmed down and babbled something that Arizona didn't really comprehend, but still she smiled at her.
A few meters away, however, everything was observed by an astonished Callie who was running after her daughter, but at the sight of that scene stopped frozen in shock.
Arizona looked around again, searching for Mark but she saw Callie watching her. 'Yeah, that should do!' She thought. And so, she stood up gesturing with her hand for her to get closer.
Callie was, indeed, approaching her and as soon as she was near enough to hear her, Arizona started apologizing "I'm sorry I'm sorry, I know you don't want to see me... But I saw Sofia here crying and I don't see Mark.. Do you know with whom sh.."
Arizona's question was interrupted by Sofia, who having seen Callie, called for her "Mamaaa!"
Callie bent down to pick up her child.
Oh...Well ok. That explained a lot.
Arizona put two and two together. She was speechless and her mind was in overdrive. She stared at the pair. God, she couldn't believe it: Callie had a daughter.
So Callie and Mark were that close. To the extent that they had a daughter. Very close.
Callie still hadn't said a single word to Arizona who was blushing, hard. She could feel it, and she couldn't even speak.
"Mija I'm here, it's okay, are you hurt baby?"
The child denied rubbing one eye and throwing herself into her arms.
She got up with the baby in her arms "Arizona, this," she paused, "is Sofia, my daughter."
"But mama Azona is lready my friend!" Sofia said as if it were obvious.
At that, Callie raised her eyebrows surprised. "What? You make a new friend and you don't tell me?" Tickling her belly she added "And it's Doctor Rob.."
The blonde intervened saying that 'Arizona' was perfect, winking at the child. She explained that they had crossed paths in the hallway a few times.
"She tied my shoe one time, mum"
They all laughed awkwardly, in the air a thick layer of embarrassment.
Callie realized just then, that Arizona was the new neighbor Mark had told her about that one time.
"Yeah I did.. Sorry, I didn't know she was yours, I just saw her on the ground and I didn't know what to do. I didn't wan.."
"It's fine Arizona.. Actually, thanks for helping her. We were playing at chasing squirrels but we went a little too far, didn't we?" She ruffled the blushing child's hair.
The kid then put her head in the cavity of Callie's neck.
Arizona was captivated. What a stunning scene.
Sofia was actually the copy of her mother. They had the same colors, the same distinctive traits.
Then her eyes fell on Callie's smile and she saw it slowly fading away. So she looked up and saw that she was staring at her. Her eyes now narrowed.
In the meanwhile, Pauleen had witnessed the whole weird exchange between the two and, at a certain point, she cleared her throat. "Well, nice to meet you! I'm Pauleen!"
Arizona interjected "I'm sorry, that was rude.. Callie this is Pauleen, Paul that's my... Colleague Callie Torres, and this little one here is Sofia."
Pauleen said "Callie? Like Callie!? Oh.."
While shaking her hand, the brunette saw Arizona's friend widening her eyes and moving her gaze quickly between Arizona and her.
Callie was confused. She had a questioning face and a furrowed brow.
Arizona was so red in face. She hadn't told Pauleen yet that she had found the infamous 'Love of her life, lost because too young and to which she hadn't declared' and she tried, unsuccessfully, to get out of that awkward moment "We both work at the hospital, at the Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.."
Pauleen nodded "Yeah..." and Callie cleared her throat. She switched her daughter, which was starting to weigh, onto her other arm.
Deciding it was time to spare Arizona that agony, Pauleen said goodbye smiling. "Well, we'll leave you to your squirrels.."
The blonde could feel in that moment what gratitude means. She waved goodbye to the child and then gave a hint of a smile to the mother, who answered using a tender voice for Sofia, but with her big brown eyes fixed on her "Say bye Sofia, Arizona is leaving."
Those innocent words hit home... Maybe Calle didn't choose them voluntarily, maybe she did. But damn! 'Arizona is leaving' as if it had been easy, for her, to leave a piece of her heart.
Arizona looked at her for a long time, thinking that maybe this was not the right time, but on the other hand, they worked together and Callie's daughter lived next door... So no, not being civil was not an option for her.
"Can we meet Callie? Calmly. Outside the hospital, maybe?"
"Arizona," Callie inhaled. She looked around thinking about what to say, her brows knitted. "As you can see, I don't have much time... My life is quite busy right now."
"I'm not asking you for anything, just a coffee. Please. Just a talk.."
Callie nodded in silence. She didn't she want to spend the next few months? Years? hiding in the hospital.
She gave Pauleen a smile, one last look, and she turned toward the blanket they were sitting on.
Arizona resumed her motion and she began to increase the speed on her way home.. She didn't wanted to run anymore. Suddenly she was feeling very cold.
Sofia from her mother's arms saw the pair running and exclaimed. "Mama look, Azona chase qirrels too!"
Turning, the brunette saw Pauleen shoving the other and Arizona, about to stumble, pushing her back.
"Tomrrow we go together?" The child asked.
Seeing Arizona and her friend as they once were, made her feel strange. A bit melancholic. Or maybe envious? She didn't know. She just knew she couldn't avoid her for ever, because apparently, even if she was playing with her daughter, Arizona Robbins would have appeared out of nowhere.
9th May 2003, Miami, Florida.
Between school and her parents, Arizona was nervous and so cranky everyday. And when she felt like she couldn't take it anymore, like that hot day, she went out for a run to clear her head.
Callie had gone with her that time. She never did, because she hated running, well she hated sports in general. But with Arizona everything was better, jogging was almost bearable, and she wanted to be there for her. So she put on her shoes and went down on the beach, waiting for her friend to unload and stop running.
After almost an hour, Callie was totally devastated.Why couldn't Arizona vent by crying or eating, like all normal people?
Nearly dead, she let her own body fall on the sand and Arizona laid down next to her.
Callie breathed heavily. "You owe me!"
Finally, that put a smile on Arizona's face, who turned to look at her.
"It took an hour of torture to see those dimples!"
"Thanks Callie!" She simply said.
"It's worth it" The brunette admitted and she took a handful of sand and, before standing up, she threw it at the blonde.
"Woah!"
They both started running towards the sea.
"You'll pay for this, Torres!"
"Bring it on!" she replied while quickly taking off her shoes.
They laughed and both jumped into the water, joking and splashing each other, as the sun was setting behind them.
Arizona kept running pretending nothing had happened. She was hardly ignoring the heavy gaze, and the judgment, of the friend on her left.
After a while, this one gave her a little jostle and made her lose her balance. "Why didn't you tell me? No wonder you want to run all the time!"
"What the hell! You almost knocked me over!" She pushed her back and accelerated leaving her behind.
Pauleen ran after her. "What the fuck, Arizona?! You've talked nonstop about that girl for three years and you didn't even mention she's in Seattle? You broke my balls for years! Everyone's actually!"
"I was shocked, I had to elaborate first! And then, we've never talked, there's nothing to tell!"
"Yep, I really think I'll come at the hospital more often.."
Arizona rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Come on let's go! I've just decided to shower at your apartment and then I want you to tell me everything!"
She turned up the volume of the music in her ears and began to go faster, hoping that the pain in her legs would overcome the sensation of pain that she had been feeling in her stomach for days.