It's All Going to Be Okay

33

"Hi, girls, moms in the bathroom. Do you want to sit by me Grace?" Dad asked.

"I'm good by Arizona," I said. He nodded as he hugged us both tight before sitting down.

"Thank you for both coming, I know that mom has been calling you both a lot. I was going to call, but I didn't want to upset you girls," he said.

"What's going on?" Arizona asked.

"I'll wait for mom, I don't want to upset her any more than she is," he said. I nodded scooting to the inside as dad sat across from me. I felt safer being in the corner, even though it was going to be harder to escape.

"Girls you're here, good. Waiter, 2 more glasses of water, please," my mom said. I rolled my eyes as I looked down at the menu. "Pick out what you're eating, dad's buying," she said. I looked up at dad, and I could tell that he was hurt, but also that something was going on. I put my hand on the booth between Arizona and me, and I felt her hand on mine. She looked at me, and up at dad, noticing the same look, as she looked at what I was getting.

"Burger? That sounds delicious, oh look at this chicken dish," Arizona pointed out.

"Split?" I laughed. She nodded as we decided to get opposite dishes to go half and half. The waiter came around as he got my mom and dad's orders first.

"And for you ladies," he asked. I looked at Arizona as she ordered first and then I ordered.

"Can I get the Portabella Chicken, please? With broccoli and a house salad?" Arizona said.

"Of course, and for you?" He asked, looking at me.

"Can I get the Smokehouse burger with the barbecue sauce on the side?" I asked.

"What side would you like dear?" He asked.

"Uh, a house salad with ranch, please," I said.

"Of course, anything else I can get for you?" He asked. We all shook our heads no as he walked away to put our orders in.

"Well, we were expecting you, girls, to order steaks," mom said.

"Sorry, these just sounded good," Arizona answered for the both of us.

"So, what was so big that you had to go to Grey-Sloan?" Mom asked. I looked at Arizona worriedly as she squeezed my hand.

"Mom let's not talk about that, please. She's safe and good now, so let's just talk about the present and future," Arizona said.

"I want to know, there's a bill I have to pay," mom insisted. Arizona took a deep breath, looking at her, and then looking over at me.

"This isn't the place to talk about it, and I'm not comfortable talking about it," I said. Mom looked at me and squinted her eyes as I felt dad's hand on mine. I looked up at him and felt tears pooling up as I took my hand away from Arizona's wiping my tears, and then putting it back.

"Fine, so where is Grace going to school?" Mom asked.

"She's right here, you can ask her," Arizona said. Mom was taken back by Arizona's attitude, and I looked over at her and took a deep breath before speaking.

"High school right by their house. I'm still getting my full education. I'm still getting A's," I said.

"Between the whole move with the trimester and everything she left that school with a 4.0 GPA. She's doing better than me," she laughed. Mom didn't laugh as dad giggled with us.

"Arizona you cried if you got an A-. I'm happy to hear your doing so well Grace, Arizona has always been so protective over you," he said. I nodded as I took my hand back placing it on my lap.