Callie's POV:
"Mom, it's Christmas! Time to wake up!"
"Mammaaahhhh-mmmaaaah! Mahmmammahhh..."
I was gently snapped out of my slumber by my daughters on the morning of December 25th.
"Callie, sorry to wake you, but the girls are ready to start our Christmas together."
Sophia, Madelyn and Arizona had come in the bedroom to lightly stir me into consciousness. It was 7 am and I couldn't believe I actually slept in for a change. I sat upright, but leaned up against the headboard so Maddy could crawl to me from where Arizona had set her on the bed. Sophia had already plopped down next to me so we could snuggle.
"Merry Christmas family and I'm sorry I slept in! I can't remember the last time I was able to sleep this late. Thank you ladies for letting me get some extra Zzzz's, it's been a long couple of weeks for me."
"We figured you could use the extra hour this morning, so the three of us already made the pancake batter for our Christmas Day Treehouse breakfast. I also made the scrambled eggs and bacon that are sitting in the warming trays and waiting for transport to the backyard."
"Thank you girls for your wonderful Christmas gift to me this morning. Breakfast is almost ready and I got an extra hour of sleep. In my opinion, that's a Christmas miracle!"
Arizona and Sophia laughed at my humor as Maddy was busy bouncing up and down in my arms while still babbling her version of, "mama." She had a growing vocabulary that she was slowly building up and was close to being able to stand-up while holding onto something, any day now.
"Callie, the girls and I are going to head out to the treehouse. Come join us after you've bundled up. My Mom texted a couple minutes ago, so they should be here soon. Your sister and Renee are already out back.
With that, my family filed out of the bedroom at the same time I heard a knock on our front door. Christmas had become a bigger family holiday in the last few years, thanks to my sister and Arizona's parents moving to Seattle. During our last couple of holidays, we'd spent Christmas Eve together for dinner and then, all of Christmas Day. We'd also started a tradition of having Christmas breakfast in the treehouse with our group. It's a day where we encourage our family to wear comfortable clothes and relax. My immediate family always wears our pajamas for breakfast before changing into causal clothes for the day.
By the time I got out to the treehouse, 10 minutes had elapsed from my wake-up and I was ready for some coffee and a mimosa. I was delighted to walk-in and discover Arizona's parents, Ari and Renee, were all there.
"Well, it's about time you woke up!" Ari was laughing as she walked over to embrace me and wish me a Merry Christmas. I took turns with the rest of the adults wishing them a Merry Christmas and exchanging hugs before we sat down for breakfast.
Renee and Arizona had coordinated their efforts that morning, so each woman was running a griddle and making pancakes at a rapid rate. In no time, all of us were fed and given how full we felt, the adults looked ready for a nap. The syrup in the meal did the opposite for Maddy and Sophia as they looked ready to go from the carbohydrate spike in their bloodstreams. I'm sure the anticipation of opening gifts didn't hurt Sophia's energy level either...
After quickly cleaning up, we headed back into our house to open presents as a group. It was fun watching our daughters rip through the wrapping paper on their packages (Arizona and I helped Maddy open her gifts). Sophia, as always, had a great Christmas in terms of the haul of things she walked away with. Most of her gifts were from her Moms, but her grandparents, Aunt and Renee, also lavished her with gifts. By the time everyone was done opening presents, the mountain of wrapping paper was a few feet high.
While Sophia got busy in her room, sorting and inspecting her presents, Maddy went down for a nap. Meanwhile, us adults sat in the media room while a local Christmas parade played on the TV at a low volume. We sat around and had more coffee or champagne as we chatted about our day-to-day lives. After an hour of laughing and discussing all kinds of topics, I decided to get up and refill my glass.
Ari must have gotten up not long after me and followed me into the kitchen. I didn't initially hear her walk-in or realize she was only feet from me until I heard her say, "Can I have that bottle when you're done with it?"
I jumped in response and spilled some champagne as I was in the midst of pouring some into my glass. Ari started giggling and said, "Wow Callie, you seem to be jumpy today! Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you and thought you heard me walk in. I just came in to get some water and refill Renee's champagne glass. So, before you think anything, the drink is not for me."
I managed to quickly settle my nerves and said, "You know what Ari? I never would have thought that the drink was for you. I know better than that and I appreciate how far you've come with managing your addiction. In fact, I don't tell you this enough, but I'm incredibly proud of you and the work you've done to stay sober. I know how hard it's been on many levels, but you've come out of this a better person. I've seen the personal growth you've gone through and want you to know how happy I am to see my little sister doing so well."
"Thanks for saying that Callie, because it really is a struggle, each and every day for me to stay sober. There are so many moments that I'm tempted to drink, but restrain myself. When things don't go my way, when I'm stressed out about something or sometimes, just being around people who are drinking can trigger my feelings to get drunk. It's a never ending battle I get to fight, for the rest of my life and I always need to remind myself to take things one day at a time. It's been a year now since I consciously stopped drinking."
"I remember the car accident last December Ari, and was relieved you weren't badly injured. I'm not thrilled the accident happened, but I'm glad it made you realize the patterns you once considered routine, were really just your addiction convincing you that your behavior was "normal." I am utterly impressed with your accomplishments this year and you should be too. In fact, I don't think I've seen you this content and settled, ever. You've done well and I know that will continue going forward as you open your law practice in January."
"Thanks for saying all that Callie and I hope things go well with my law practice too. I've got some furniture coming a few days after Christmas, but everything else should be in place for when I officially open in 10 days. It's exciting and scary, all at the same time, but regardless of what happens, I'm ecstatic to take the risk. In my heart of hearts, I just want this venture to be successful, but I'll take whatever I get and figure out how to make it work."
"Well, you have a much better attitude and approach than I would. Thankfully, Arizona is better at being grounded than I could ever hope to be and keeps me balanced. Looks like I now have you as well when I need help to keep focused and positive! You do realize we have the same family trait? We both tend to get emotional in times of duress. I think Grandma Torres was exactly the same and I think it's whom we get it from."
"Callie, I never thought of that, but you're right! She could simultaneously be a firecracker, or an emotional roller coaster when she reacted to someone or something. Huh..., guess we did get that trait from her!"
"Oh, and don't forget our Mother, Ari. Talk about a woman that flys off the handle..."
"Speaking of our parents, how are Mom and Dad doing lately, Callie? I can't believe it's getting close to two years, since Mom cut me off for leaving her practice and moving. It's even harder now that I sporadically talk to Dad. It's been a couple months since we last spoke."
"Aria, you haven't missed anything, believe me. I still don't talk to Mom and really haven't in over a decade. Daddy and I talk once a week, but it's mostly about Sophia and Maddy. Which reminds me, he called yesterday and said that Mom was doing much better recently. Thanks to physical therapy and all the other rehabilitation she's been doing, she's regained most of the functionality she lost from the stroke. She still struggles to come up with words from time to time and her speech changed slightly, but it sounds like she's mostly back to her terrible, old self."
"How lucky for our Dad... I guess that's his Christmas present this year... getting his cold, heartless wife back just in time for the holidays. Nobody screams holiday joy, quite like our Mother does!"
We were laughing so hard, Ari and I fell over the kitchen island at my sister's sarcasm, regarding our Mother's usual insensitive demeanor.
"Hey you two, what's going on in here?" Arizona was attempting to give us a hard time as her and Renee walked into the kitchen.
"We were just talking about our parents and trying to make light of how difficult they can be. The usual."
Renee walked over to Ari and gave her a kiss on her cheek before saying, "As long as you're just talking about your usual struggles with your parents... Hey, we hate to break this family-fest up, but Arizona and I came in here to put together the appetizers for this afternoon."
"You two are welcome to help, but I sense you'll be doing more watching and critiquing, then helping. Either way, scoot over you two."
Arizona smiled as she spoke, kissed me and pushed my butt towards the other side of the kitchen island that was next to the table. I could tell I wasn't needed at that moment and decided to go check on my daughters instead of loitering in the kitchen. Ari also took the hint from our other halves and decided to join me in checking on Maddy and Sophia.
Maddy was still snoozing away and Soph was busy listening to Christmas music while she sang and reorganized her bookshelf with new photo printing supplies she had received. So, after making sure the girls were okay, my sister and I decided to sit with Arizona's parents until the hors d'oeuvres were ready.
We ended up eating an early dinner that evening around 3 pm. We tend to do that on holidays so we have time to digest the large amount of food and relax. After dinner, it didn't take long for Arizona's parents to pack up their things and leave. They were having Chip over that evening for dessert and some drinks.
Turned out Chip had volunteered at a local VFW to serve Christmas meals to the homeless and underprivileged that year and wouldn't be home until early evening. If I didn't know the guy, I would have thought he was too good to be true, but knowing him as I did, it wasn't surprising to hear he was helping those that were less fortunate on the holiday. He was almost too selfless to be real, but I knew he was a genuine person from my interactions with him.
After The Colonel and Barbara left, Ari and Renee stayed for a couple more hours before they called it a night. It was 9:30 pm and well past Soph's bedtime by the time we got her tucked in. I'm pretty sure it didn't take long for her to fall asleep that night after all the activities she had during the last few days. Maddy was ready for sleep too that evening and conked out within minutes of putting her down.
'Finally!,' I thought.
I was alone with my wife for the first time in a couple of days. I was excited as such to have a couple hours to ourselves that night to talk and be together. I also had a gift I hadn't given Arizona yet and had been waiting for a moment like this. I quickly decided to make the most of our quiet time and lit some candles in our bedroom. Arizona must have had a similar plan as me because next thing I knew, she was carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses into our bedroom.
"Well, hello Dr. Torres, fancy meeting you here!" In the time I had tucked Madelyn into her crib, Arizona had changed into a mini-slip and robe I hadn't seen before. The blue slip was made of silk and had spaghetti straps. It was high cut and had a side slit on the left leg. The top and other parts were detailed with thin black lace and she had a matching mini blue silk robe that she only untied when she closed the bedroom door.
"Merry Christmas, Callie. I wanted to give you my "gift," when nobody else was around. What do you think?"
My jaw was on the floor as I openly ogled my wife's incredibly beautiful body. The slip and robe clung perfectly to every single thing they could have and I felt my desire for Arizona go from low, to, look out!
"What do I think? Are you serious? I think I am the luckiest girl on this planet and this is the best Christmas, EVER."
I wrapped my arms around her waist and began kissing up and down her neck. We both softly laughed as Arizona said, "You are too easy then, Dr. Torres, if all it takes to make you happy is me being scantily clad for you! ...Know what though...? Nothing makes me happier than to hear you say that."
We shared a deep kiss before Arizona set down the glasses and poured some wine in both. While Arizona got settled in bed, I changed into a skimpy, black, silk nightshirt that went to my knees. I slipped on a lacy pair of black panties to match. I could already tell where this evening was about to take us and was excited about what was to come.
After crawling into bed, cheering one another, we took a sip of our wine and let out a deep sigh.
"I know you feel the same way Callie, but despite being worn out from entertaining, I think the last couple of days turned out brilliantly. Our family seemed to have a good time and everyone appeared to be happy and relaxed. In the history of Christmases, I think this was one of our best, don't you?"
I noticed Arizona had turned on some romantic music as we sat upright in bed talking.
"I thought so too honey, but am I relieved it's over. I have to admit, that after the party, my Christmas spirit was zapped this year. Speaking of getting zapped, did you hear anything from Teddy today? I sent her a Merry Christmas text, but never heard back."
"I sent her a text as well, but didn't get a response either. I've already decided it's the last time I'm going to text her. From this point forward, the ball is in her court and it's up to Teddy to reach out to us."
"I was thinking the same thing, Arizona. I'm to the point that if she wants to salvage this relationship, it's going to be up to her. Although I'll be honest, I'm going to need a damn good reason from her as to why she has been treating us the way she has the last week and a half."
"Ditto, Callie. I'm willing to move on, but there better be an explanation from Teddy before that happens. This is too big of an issue to just, 'sweep under the rug.' I need to talk this out with her if we're ever going to regain the trust we used to share."
"At least we're on the same page regarding Teddy. I suppose if we both feel the same way, it's not us. I'm chalking this up to Teddy needing to do some soul-searching and that in time, she'll come around, Callie."
"I think so too, but I wonder exactly how much time she is going to take? Oh well, I think it's best not to dwell on it. In the meantime, I have a small present to give to you, Dr. Robbins..."
I opened up the top drawer of my bedside cabinet and pulled out a wrapped package I had stashed in there a few days ago. I handed the box to Arizona and smiled.
"What's this? I thought we weren't buying gifts for one another this year?"
"I know that was the initial plan Arizona, but when I saw this, I couldn't pass it up. Besides, you bought me a gift, so I don't see a problem in buying you this."
Arizona started ripping through the paper to reveal a hinged box. She stared at it for a moment before opening it and looking absolutely stunned.
"Calliope Torres, you shouldn't have, but I'm so glad you did! Oh my gawd, this set you back a lot of money! My gift to you was not this expensive!"
In the rectangular box was a diamond solitaire tennis bracelet that sparkled in the dim lighting of our bedroom. It was a bracelet we had seen last Summer when we were shopping downtown. It was in a display window at a prominent jeweler near Pike Place Market. I remember that day and the moment Arizona commented about how pretty the bracelet was and how it would compliment the solitaire earrings we had purchased as one year anniversary gifts.
"Oh sweetie, it's not about the cost, it's about the sentiment. I remember that day last Summer when you saw it and remarked how much you liked it. And for the record, I LOVE the gift you bought for me and don't care about how much it cost. I just want us to get many good uses out of your outfit, if ya know what I mean!"
I gave Arizona a seductive look and wink, before she gave me a passionate kiss and her dimpled smile.
"I'm a lucky girl to have such a beautiful wife that is also unbelievably thoughtful and loving. I will always wear this bracelet proudly, as I think it represents a piece of your heart you are giving to me. Thank you, Callie. I absolutely love it!"
Arizona clasped the bracelet around her left wrist before passionately kissing me again. "Now, where were we, Callie...?"
We both rolled towards one another, our bodies had quickly become intertwined as we started kissing and grouping one another. We got about two minutes into our sexual desires beginning to peak, when we heard Madelyn's cry from the baby monitor in our room.
"Every, single, time! How does she do it, Arizona? It's like she knows we're about to get intimate. I swear that's the only time she decides she needs us!"
Arizona giggled and gave me a quick kiss.
It does feel that way, Callie, I agree. Nonetheless, our youngest needs us, so I'll go see what she wants."
Arizona got up and put her prosthetic back on.
"Are you sure, Arizona? I can go check on her."
"No, I'll go check on our little one, Callie. Do me a favor though while I'm gone and don't forget where we were, a second ago. When I get back, I expect us to pick back up where we just left off."
I eagerly nodded and once Arizona left to head down to the nursery, I got up and adjusted the lighting in our room. I made sure we had more of a dim, romantic ambiance and turned up the music, ever so slightly. As I waited, I finished my glass of wine.
Apparently, Madelyn had a diaper leak and needed a quick dunk in the tub to get cleaned up, so Arizona was gone for 15 minutes. I did my best to stay alert and even sat up against the headboard to stay awake. Despite my best efforts, Arizona said when she came back in the room, I was asleep sitting upright while I snored away.
I didn't witness any of this, but she blew out the candles, turned off the music and then the mood lighting, before crawling into bed. She managed to coax me down to a supine position and started spooning me. I do remember her softly kissing my cheek, stroking my hair and saying, "Merry Christmas, Dr. Torres. I hope you know how much you mean to me and how much I love you."
After hearing those words, I mumbled, "I love you..." before I drifted back to the deep slumber I had just been disturbed from.