Callie's POV:
"Hey girls, how's it going in here?" Arizona was a couple steps ahead of me with a lantern when we walked into Soph's bedroom as she spoke.
The girls had large blankets they had hung over chairs, the desk and the bed. They used books, toys and any heavier item they could find to affix the ends of their makeshift tent.
"We're good Mama, but we were both wondering if we could have another Halloween cookie?"
Our daughter, much like me, never misses an opportunity to get another sweet treat whenever she was able. I could tell Arizona didn't mind and said, "That's fine with us, but let us get them for you since it's dark in the kitchen."
Both girls happily nodded in response to my comment, so I quickly headed to the kitchen and returned with their cookies in time to hear Arizona say, "Hey Bug and Anna, since we don't have power, it's going to get colder as the night goes on. We brought in more blankets for you both, but also brought in some sweatshirts and socks for you too. If it gets too cold in your bedroom, we can sleep in the media room by the fire. Just let your Mom and I know before you go out there so we can join you, okay?"
In unison both girls said, "Okaaay." They were busy arranging pillows inside the tent when we halted their progress.
That's when Arizona continued to say, "Oh and Anna, your Mom is sleeping upstairs in the guest room so if you need anything tonight, just let Callie and I know. We're going to be across the hall in our bedroom with Maddy."
"Okay Arizona, I will. Is my Mom sharing her bedroom with Teddy?"
Arizona and I exchanged brief looks at one another as we scrambled to answer Anna's straightforward question. Thank goodness Arizona was faster on her feet, because I was failing to figure out what to say. We both assumed that Anna knew nothing about Teddy and her Mom's convoluted relationship, but now I wasn't so sure about that assumption.
"They are bunking together to stay warm, just like you and Sophia are, and Callie and I."
"I see, okay, but I think my Mom and Teddy are more like you and Callie though."
And there it was. As parents we always assume we're so clever at hiding things from our children. What we tend to forget, however, is these little people watch our every move, day in and day out. I think kids sometimes know more about a particular parent, than that parent's spouse does at times.
I was still not sure what to say and was thankful Arizona was not without words. "What would make you think that, Anna?"
"Well, my Mom is different most of the time she's around Teddy and when they think I'm not looking, they touch each other a lot. I'm okay with it if they are together, but Mom always says she's not interested in anyone else other than me."
"Anna, I don't know myself if Teddy and your Mom like one another like Callie and I do, but I know they are very close friends. I also know your Mom loves you like crazy and would do anything for you."
"I know, but I want my Mom to be happy. My Dad has a boyfriend and he's happy now and I like Teddy. I have fun when she's with us."
I decided to add my two cents and reroute our conversation. "Well then Anna, good news. I have a feeling Teddy, your Mom and you, will be here at least one more day with the weather forecast. Now you two, give us hugs goodnight, but remember, we're just across the hall, okay?"
Arizona and I took turns hugging our daughter and Anna before heading to our bedroom with Maddy. We decided to have Maddy sleep between us to keep her warm that night. We kept our voices low, but started changing into sweats and thick socks to stay warm ourselves as we talked.
"Well, Anna obviously knows more is going on with Becca and Teddy! Kids always seem to know. Remember how Soph already knew about us getting back together before we officially told her, Callie?"
"Oh, I remember how shocked we were when she told us she saw us making-out on the couch when it was dark and we thought she was in bed, asleep. I really think the CIA and FBI should start hiring children as agents. Those little people are quite astute when it comes to finding out secret information."
Both of us laughed after my statement about kids and their investigative abilities.
"Callie, clearly Anna knows and seems okay with her Mom dating Teddy. I wonder if Becca knows and if that piece of information might change her mind about dating Teddy?"
"Arizona, while I agree, I don't want to get involved more than we already are. For whatever reason, this is a very private matter for Becca, but lord knows why. Maybe in time, Anna will say something to Becca, but until then, I'm fine with not saying anything."
"I fundamentally agree with you Callie, but part of me thinks saying something would do a lot of good for the three of them. Then again, I'm also a realist and know if I meddle, I could make things worse. I've learned my lesson in my older years and am keeping quiet."
I chuckled and said, "Since when have you minded your business when it comes to our family and friends? Sweetie, I mean this in the nicest of ways, but you always want to help and usually end up saying something. With all of us being stuck together this weekend, I suspect you will eventually cave and talk."
That's when I realized in the glow of the battery-powered lanterns, the look on my wife's face. Apparently, Arizona did not appreciate my words or the sentiment in which I said them. I could tell by the scowl on her face that was laser-focused at me.
"Eventually cave, huh? I have that little restraint, Calliope Torres?!" (Gulp, she used my full name...) "So, that's what you think of me? I meddle in other people's lives because I can't help myself?'"
How is it that your spouse can twist your words and make you out to sound like the worst person ever? Sigh. Arizona can do it in record time, when she wants.
"Arizona, that's not at all what I meant or said. I just meant, oh, never mind. I wasn't being mean and I'm sorry if my words came out that way. I think we're just wiped out from all the stress of today. I also know how upset you are about the treehouse on top of everything else. It's been a long day already and we have a long night ahead. Can we call a truce, please? I am sorry, my love."
I wanted to throw my arms around my wife to show her how much I loved her, but knew she wasn't ready for me to do that until she was ready. I've been known to act the same and decided it would be best to give her space. Since the oak limb came crashing down on the treehouse roof, I had seen the visible strain in Arizona's eyes. I knew how much that space meant to her, even though she had on a brave face.
Without saying anything else, we just got into bed and turned off all the lights with the exception of one. Maddy was between us, so it gave Arizona yet another reason not to be touched that night. I knew this would pass, but I couldn't remember the last time Arizona had been this angry with me. I was hoping some quiet time would give her an opportunity to reflect and move on and by morning, my girl would be back.
That night, I got up every couple of hours and put more logs on the fire to keep our only heat source going. The temperature in the house did steadily start dropping and by 4 am, it was 66 degrees on the thermostat. While it wasn't that cold, as someone that is accustomed to our house being around 72 degrees, it was a significant shift.
Not long after I stoked the fire and crawled back into bed, I fell asleep, deeply. For once the concern of listening to 60 to 80 mph wind gusts didn't matter as pure exhaustion overtook me. At least that was what I thought when I was woken by the largest wood cracking explosion I'd ever heard, followed by a thunderous snap. Suddenly I heard more noises and then a deafening boom echoed as the house shook hard.
"Calliope!" I saw Arizona putting on her prosthetic leg and running towards our bedroom door. I left Maddy surrounded by pillows and was right behind. We looked out the front windows in the semi-darkness to see what had happened. The first light of dawn was just coming out, but we could still see what had occurred. Teddy and Becca must have heard the commotion too, because they were behind us in seconds as we stared outside in disbelief.
"Arizona, does that look like the pine tree from the house next door or is it just me that thinks it is?"
"No Callie, that's our neighbor's tree that is laying in our front yard and completely blocking the street and our driveway. I can't tell if it hit anything until we get more daylight though. That tree is 4 or 5-stories tall, so I fear to see what collateral damage it did. Guess we'll just have to wait and see, oh joy."
If Arizona was in a bad place last night, this new property damage just made her mood worse, but I didn't blame her. Our picket fence was probably gone, not to mention we couldn't see if there was any damage to Teddy's or Becca's cars. Oh, and there was the minor detail about our driveway now being completely blocked.
"I just read the National Weather Service forecast, and it is saying the winds will start to die down in the next 4 hours. Everything should peak by 7 am and start slowing. By 10 am, winds will be breezy in the 20's and 30's, but significantly slower than what we've experienced in the 70's and 80's." Teddy sighed after speaking and patted Becca on her back. I could see the concern in their faces regarding their parked car's unknown futures that sat in our tree-filled driveway.
"I don't know about any of you, but there's no way I could go back to sleep right now. I'm going to make some coffee and go to the media room to sit by the the fire." Arizona sighed as she scooted out of the room.
"Callie, is Arizona okay?" Becca looked concerned as she asked.
"No, but she's coping. First the treehouse, now this. We will get it figured out though and always do. I know the damage to the treehouse really upset her even though she's not saying anything."
"Okay, that's good to know. Thanks, Callie. Well, I don't know about Teddy, but with the amount of adrenaline that's coursing through my bloodstream, I'm with Arizona. There's no way I can go back to sleep."
"That makes two of us!" Teddy half smiled as the three of us walked into the kitchen to grab some coffee.
Even though we didn't have power, we had a gas stovetop and oven. That particular morning it paid off so we could still use our French Press to make coffee.
Arizona was holding Maddy and pouring a cup when we walked in. I took Maddy out of her hands and rubbed her back, briefly. She didn't recoil, whew. I knew her anger from last night had subsided and was hoping she was no longer mad at me. In the turmoil of what just happened, last night seemed so long ago.
"Callie, I changed her and her bottle is almost warmed." (We had a warmer that also had a battery pack, thankfully!)
Becca and Teddy grabbed their coffees and quickly headed to the media room. I think they sensed Arizona and I needed a moment.
"Okay, sweetie, thank you. I'll feed her when her bottle is ready." I was holding Maddy in my right arm and wrapped my left arm around Arizona's back.
"Arizona, are you okay? I'm not, especially after seeing the massive tree in front of our house, but I'm more worried about you." I kissed her forehead as she burrowed her face into my chest.
"No. I'm far from okay Callie, but need to hold it together for our guests. I know it's things that can be fixed and I'm happy we are safe, but I'm emotionally drained. I know you are too and I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you last night. That wasn't fair, please forgive me."
"Arizona, I wasn't mad at you, just concerned. I know how much you love the treehouse and this home. And even though I had nothing to do with buying either house, they are apart of me now too. I'm devastated by all the damage, but especially understand where you're coming from. I know the treehouse was a dream come true for you that you wanted to share with our daughter. You have the most beautiful heart, that I absolutely love and don't know what I would do without."
"Thank you for being you, Callie, and for being so understanding. Most people wouldn't have the ability to understand why I feel so crushed right now, like you do."
We shared a long kiss, as Maddy babbled between us. Just then, her bottle warmer beeped it was ready. So, the three of with our drinks in hand, joined Teddy and Becca.
When we walked in, we discovered our two friends, passionately kissing and touching each other as they sat side by side, legs outstretched and intertwined. Maybe the heat from the fire made them forget about us or where they were, but I was surprised to see them be so brazen for a change. I knew after our "discussion" last night I shouldn't, but couldn't help myself and let out a wolf whistle sound when we saw them.
"Yah, yah, yah. Get it all out now. Do either of you have a problem with Teddy and I being affectionate with one another? We are not going public yet and I don't want Anna to know for the moment, but we figured it's becoming impossible to hide from you guys."
"I don't have any problems with you guys." Arizona spoke first as I followed her and said, "No problems with me."
Both women exhaled and smiled at us. Okay, so I knew Arizona and I each had reservations about the two of them being together, but it wasn't our place to say anything. After all, they were both single, consenting adults that knew what they were doing.
"So, how long have the two of you known?" I could tell Becca was looking between Arizona and myself for an answer. Leave to my other half to come up with the perfect answer, first.
"I noticed right off the bat the connection between the two of you at the coast last August. It was the morning I saw Teddy leave your room with her shirt on backwards that confirmed it for me."
I had to laugh when I remembered that moment Arizona told me about, as did the other two when they remembered that particular incident.
I had just finished burping Maddy when she started to get sleepy. None of us had slept much that night, so I wasn't surprised when she conked out in her bassinet moments after eating.
Arizona and I decided to snuggle together under a blanket as our friends did the same. For a few minutes, none of us talked. Instead, we watched the fire and cuddled in with our partners for some affection. We were all so raw after going through what we had, it was safe to say all of us had giant emotional voids that needed to be filled.
After a few minutes, I noticed everyone had started to close their eyes and began falling asleep. I decided to do the same and was almost out, when I felt a familiar 90-something pound weight plop on top of us.
That's when I heard Teddy let out an, 'oof,' sound in response to weight being dropped on her abdomen. I opened my eyes to see Anna burrow between Teddy and her Mom. Sophia had done the same to us.
"Morning Bug, how are you?" Arizona kissed our daughter's cheek as I kissed her forehead.
"We're freezing! It's really cold in our tent!" Reflexively, we pulled up our blanket to snuggle Sophia underneath our wool cover and between us. I watched Teddy and Becca do the same. And here I thought Becca didn't want Anna to know...
"Come stay warm with us, girls. Us adults are trying to stay warm as well. The more body heat we have, the better!" Becca kissed her daughter's forehead after she spoke.
That's when I realized Becca still wasn't going to say anything, even though her daughter had just seen her Mom sleeping right next to Teddy, with her head on Teddy's chest. Oh well, not my kid, not my problem.
By this point in the morning, it was just after 7 am and as promised, the winds were starting to gust with much less power than we'd experienced during the last 12 hours. Sometime after 8 am, Teddy and I got dressed and headed out front to see what had happened.
Sure enough, our neighbor's tree, that was just to our left at the end of our driveway, had literally fallen over. It must have been dying, even though it didn't look bad, because of how it fell. The massive entanglement of roots had mostly uprooted and just fell over from the lack of support. It was a tree that was between the sidewalk and the street and when it toppled over, leaned slightly towards the street.
A good portion of the top branches however, landed squarely in our yard. As I already thought, our white picket fence was all but destroyed. There were just a few slats at the far end that still remained. It also took out some very old and tall hedges that gave us privacy from the street.
As we moved through the brush, it was a remarkable thing to discover neither car was really damaged. The only thing we could see was a dent, about the size of a quarter, on Becca's front side panel. It looked like something that could have happened in a grocery store parking lot it was so small. You'd never think it was the result of a 5-story pine tree falling.
Teddy and I went back inside and shared our news. While Becca looked relieved, Arizona just rolled her eyes and started making jokes about money. She handled it well, but she was right. The damages to our property were not going to be cheap to fix, especially the treehouse. We were hoping we wouldn't discover anything else, but knew that we would as we started inspecting the outside of the house with more detail.
For breakfast that morning, we made bacon, scrambled eggs and French toast. We had a couple really large party coolers from our various events that Arizona and I loaded up when we knew the power wasn't coming back right away. So, at least we still had access to fresh food when the refrigerators lost power.
After breakfast, we piled back in the media room, just in time for our lights to flash and then finally come back on. All of us cheered, but especially when the heat came back on. I hurried and grabbed the remote control so we could watch the local news. The scenes we saw seemed unfathomable as the coverage was showing the devastation and destruction the winds had caused.
The city itself would take days to get the main streets cleared, at least. As for the rest of the arterials that fed into the highways, they would triage based on priority. In other words, we would need to find someone to take care of getting rid of the tree in front of our driveway, if we wanted to drive our cars, anytime soon.