Hold me closer

Thing!verse [October 2016] (218)

—-

Carlos receives the call mid afternoon on the east coast. He grins at the caller id.

“Arizona. How are you today?”

“I-I’m. Doing well.”

Carlos frowns. His almost-daughter-in-law lost her nerves around him a long time ago; she and Calliope have two wonderful children together (his only grandchildren), and they’ve been together forever. 

“Is something wrong, Arizona?”

“I bought a ring.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the news. The decision will come down this afternoon.”

“Of course,” Carlos says, already grinning.

“Well, if it goes our way, and I think it will, then I - I know we’re already practically there, but I’d love Asa and Lena to know that their moms are in it forever and-”

“Dr. Robbins,” Carlos interrupts, gruff but affectionate. “Just ask me.”

“I would like to propose to Calliope. I would love your permission to do so.”

Carlos lets her sweat it out for several seconds, then answers:

“Why on earth would I say no?”

Arizona lets out a relieved sigh and returns to her normal self.

“I don’t know why I was nervous about that.”

“What would you have done if I said no?”

“Asked anyway,” Arizona laughs. “I’ve been waiting for five years.”

Carlos chuckles.

“Good luck. I hope she says yes.”

“That’s not funny.”

Carlos laughs again.

Alt!verse future (164)

—-

“He’s right.”

“Excuse me?!”

Both Owen and Callie are looking at Arizona with complete shock. Arizona flinches.

“I- I know this isn’t a democratic system. You’re the parents; I don’t get a vote. But, for whatever it is worth, I think Owen’s right.”

Callie is still gaping at her, and Owen is too surprised to be smug. 

“Oh, okay,” Callie manages. “I, um. Can we have a second?”

The question is directed at Owen, who nods.

“You think he’s right?” Callie asks softly once Owen is a few steps off.

“If they get picked on, they should learn how to defend themselves. Just defense,” Arizona reasons.

“They’re so little,” Callie counters. “I can’t believe-”

“Hey. They’re four,” Arizona soothes. “It’s just tae kwon do.”

Callie sighs and glares.

“I still find it kind of hot when you parent,” she admits with annoyance. 

Arizona grins.

“Let them be ninjas.”

“Fine,” Callie acquiesces. “Don’t make a habit of this, huh?”

“Of what?”

“Ganging up on me.”

Lay-nee. 

Thing!verse [2016] (202)

——

“Oh my gosh, Calliope,” Arizona huffs.

“It was your turn just admit it.”

“Uh no.”

“Uh yes.”

They’ve been fighting over stupid things for days; nothing serious or even anything they can pinpoint. Just one of those phases. Right now, it’s over whose fault it was that they missed this week’s trash pick up.

Callie opens her mouth to say something snarky, but three-year-old Asa cuts her off:

“Mami, Momma,” he calls insistently from the living room, surrounded by his fire trucks. “Mira at Leni.”

His moms look over from the kitchen just in time to see eleven-month-old Lena release her grip on the coffee table and stumble forward in clumsy but distinct steps.

“Oh mi Lena-nena,” Callie gasps, scooping the girl up when she tumbles forward. “Mira tú.”

Arizona is right there beside her, singing the girl’s praises, kissing both her partner and her daughter soundly.

Lena giggles and beams at the attention.

“It might’ve been my turn,” Arizona admits as the cooing dies down.

“It might’ve been mine,” Callie smiles back.

Arizona grins.

“You know this means she’ll never stop, right?”

“God help us all.”

Callie sits down to get Lena to do it again.

Thing!verse [2024] (125)

——

“Caroline Grace. Step away from the heelies,” Callie commands with every ounce of mommy-voice she can muster.

“But Mami…”

She really thought she was in the clear. She managed to keep Asa and Lena away from those damn shoes and their murderous intentions. Maybe she let her guard down with Caroline.

“But Mami, I’m good at them, look.”

Defying her orders (and really Cari’s the only one who ever does), Caroline slips her feet into the shoes and zooms down the hardwood hallway - and right into her mother and siblings. 

“Cool!” Asa exclaims.

“I want some!” Lena echoes.

“Zoom shoes,” two-year-old Teo pipes up. 

Callie crosses her arms over her chest and levels her gaze at her wife:

“You are so busted.”

Haha. I dunno! I just sorta ignore most of the description that isn’t super essential (I am pretty minimalistic on description anyway), and shoot for just 100 words. Then, when I overshoot, it’s usually closer to 200 than 300, lol. 

haha, yessss. They’ve all done it, though, I’m sure.

Thing!verse [2025] (293)

——

Keeping the door locked against the threat of wandering children is a concept that rankled Arizona at first. She is not a fan of any locked doors in the house and cutting the kids off from them just bothered her in some way.

Right now, though, with her face firmly between Calliope’s thighs, Arizona thanks every god out there that their door has a lock.

There’s a knock and then an impatient rattle of the handle.

“Momma? Por qué es locked?”

Callie’s soft moan immediately strangles off. Arizona sits up, reaching for her discarded pajamas and throwing Callie’s nightgown at her.

“Teo,” Callie sighs as she pulls it over her head.

Caroline’s nighttime wandering phase was brief (ironic, since she wandered quite a bit during the daylight hours), so they were out of practice when their youngest started doing the usual act.

“Finish this in the third floor on call room tomorrow?”

“How about your office?”

“You’re bad,” Arizona grins.

“Mami?”

Arizona looks to make sure her wife is dressed and shakes her previous arousal off with more than a little disappointment. She opens the door to see her little man pouting back at her, and the annoyance disappears.

“What are you doing up, bubba?”

Teo frowns.

“Sueños malos. Can s’eep with you please?” the three-year-old asks with big puppy dog eyes.

“Okay,” Arizona smiles, scooping him up and kissing his cheek.

“Mami,” their chatterbox repeats as Arizona dumps him in the bed. “Why was the door locked?”

“Oh mi amor. What kind of bad sueños did you have?” Callie snuggles him close.

Teo squirms and talks them back to sleep.

Callie grins at her wife over their youngest son with promise of things to come.

Alt!verse - Mid-Affair. (130)

—-

“I can’t - I don’t know if I can keep going on like this,” Arizona pants against Callie’s ear, even as her fingers cling even tighter to her waist.

One I need you text, and Arizona dropped everything to meet Callie at the apartment. Her apartment door almost swung off its hinges in Callie’s haste to have her. The thump of the door slamming shut still echoes through the room as Callie spins her and pushes her against the door.

“Please don’t do this,” Callie begs, trailing hold, open-mouthed kisses up her neck. “Don’t stop.”

“Calliope, your husband-”

“One more night. Please. At least one more night.”

Arizona gives in. She always does, and always will. Only Callie has the power to stop this.

Only Callie knows she never will.

Alt!verse (150)

—-

“And these are my brothers. Ignore them. And this is my mom, and this is my other mom,” seven-year-old Allegra breezes by them, giving the house tour to her very first sleepover house guest.

Callie doesn’t even notice or process what happened until, Arizona setting the table with the boys, drops and shatters a drinking glass. Instinctively, Arizona swoops barefoot Gavin up out of the way. The boy giggles.

“Are you okay, Sona?” Gus asks, held back from the mess by his mother.

Callie puts Gus on the counter and commands him to stay put. She grabs the dustpan and kneels at Arizona’s feet to sweep up, repeating the question softly.

“Are you okay?”

Callie looks up expectantly for an answer and finds Arizona teary but smiling.

“I’m good,” she nods, letting out a shaky breath. “How- how are you?”

“I’m great,” Callie swears, smiling. “Boys?”

“We’re hungry!”

I should hope you didn’t call your best bro a jerk!!! Stupid kindle. :P

ROUGHIAN wrote this one, cause’s she’s awesome. And it’s adorable.

Alt!verse (276)

“And that’s a Kang’roo!” Gus shouts as he points at the tv, stuffing his face with Goldfish crackers in the meantime. 

“Very good!” Arizona affirms as she plucks a few from his tiny bowl while he’s distracted (he won’t mind- she thinks). They’re both invested in their Planet Earth marathon, jammies and fuzzy socks to boot. Allegra is at ballet, and Gavin is helping his mami with the grocery shopping, lending the opportunity for some Arizona/Gus bonding time.  

The music changes and the scenery shifts from the dusty landscape to some Eucalyptus trees, where a koala and her baby peer back curiously at the camera. The sight spurs Gus to begin running around like a mad man, circling the coffee table as he giggles.

“Whoa, buddy. Careful!” Arizona says as she kneels down on the floor, wrangling the wriggling Gus. 

“Koalas!” he says in protest, wrapping his arms around her neck and somehow managing to scoot his little form behind her. “I’m a baby koalas!” 

Arizona laughs at the excitement in Gus’s tiny voice. 

As he nuzzles his face into her ponytail, he says. “And you’re the momma koala, and I’m your baby.” 

“Uh oh, what about your mami?” Arizona asks as she tries to swallow the lump forming in her throat. 

“She’s a mami koala, and you’re my other mami koala,” Gus reasons. 

Arizona hoists the little guy up her back so that he’s more secure as she heads them to the kitchen. 

“C’mon, koala baby, let’s go have some real lunch.” 

Gus nods enthusiastically as Arizona lets the weight of that statement settle over her. 

Maybe she could totally be a momma koala. 

Alt!verse, after the affair goes public. (200)

—-

Arizona has been cordially invited to read bed time stories. Given that this is only her fourth night spent in the house (the second that the children know about), the prospect is rather terrifying. 

“No, Mami. Out,” Gavin declares, even going so far as to point out of their bedroom door.

“Sona read,” Gus seconds. 

Allegra jumps at the chance to have her mother alone.

“Yeah, Mami. You can read my story.”

“Oh, okay,” Callie agrees tentatively as the boys immediately pull Arizona into the old rocking chair in the corner and scramble, with the other woman’s help, into her lap. Callie beams at the sight, which means Arizona is powerless to say no.

“Sure. We have this.”

“Okay, boys. I’ll be back to tuck you in.” 

The twins nod vigorously.

“And just two books. Don’t let them con you into more,” Callie warns.

“I think I can handle story time, Calliope,” Arizona blusters.

“Mhmm.”

Callie and Allegra leave, and the boys pop their pacifiers back in. They look up at her expectantly. She melts and can’t help but pull them closer, feeling the gentle, sweet way they cling to her.

“Where do we start, guys? Little Engine That Could?”

Why so anon, bro? And :D <3 :D <3. 

Nope! I’ve never actually heard the song. is it worth a listen?

She’d probably just die laughing. :P

Thing!verse [2018] (225)

“You think he’s old enough for a movie?” Mark asks Arizona as they watch almost-three-year-old Lena and just now two-year-old Grey bounce excitedly in their theater seats. Lexie and Callie will be along shortly; Asa wanted his Aunt Lexie close by while he helped his pregnant madre fill her popcorn-and-Twizzlers craving.

“Sure,” Arizona shrugs, looking over the tops of the children’s heads. They’ve taken seats so that the toddlers are between them. “He just wants to be by Lena-bug.”

Mark grins as he watches Grey clumsily lean over to whisper in his hopefully future wife’s ear. 

“Oh my goodness, they’re just precious,” the older woman behind them leans forward to coo. “Are you two going to be good for Mom and Dad here?”

“Oh! We’re not-” “Whoa, her, what?”

“I have two mommies,” Lena speaks up happily. “And no daddy.”

The woman looks confused and surprised. 

“Oh, I-”

“It’s just a play date,” Arizona explains politely. She motions to the children. “They’re best friends.”

“Ah.” The woman leans back, clearly confused by the whole situation.

Arizona and Mark meet each other’s eyes, shudder, and look away.

“Let’s speak of this to no one.”

“Agreed,” Arizona confirms.

Lexie, Asa, and Callie finally join them.

“Mami, guess what? She thought Momma and Uncle Mark were our mommy and daddy!”

Aw thanks!!! I really appreciate you dropping a note. 

Haha, noooo. Sorry, anon, but neither my girlfriend or I is comfortable with that, especially because she is studying to be a psychologist, so she needs as little online footprint as possible.  

But we are very cute; just ask roughian.