The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona

Santa Claus is Coming... to Town

Arizona's POV:

It was Christmas Eve, late afternoon. Apparently I had fallen asleep on the couch, by the fire, after making gingerbread houses and having lunch. I thought when I fell asleep, Renee was laying next to me, her head on my chest, as she began to drift off. 

That late afternoon however, I was awoken by a faint, snoring sound. I'd know that noise anywhere, and reached down to wrap my arms around Sophia. 

Sophia started to slowly stir, as I started rubbing her back, in an effort to gently wake her up. Her head was flopped on the middle of my chest, as she snuggled into me.

I could hear the muffled sounds of Renee and Callie in the kitchen. 'Whew,' I thought. 'At least Renee got up to start Christmas Eve dinner.'

Sophia started coming to life as she spoke, "Mama, what time is it? Did Santa come yet?"

"No, my love, it's still Christmas Eve and we need to have dinner and you get to take a bath before going to sleep." I kissed the top of her forehead. "Shall we go see what Mom and Renee are up to the the kitchen?

"Mmmm, okay," was all Sophia could manage as she yawned.

"C'mon munchkin, let's go," I said, as I grabbed her hand and we got off the couch together.

We walked into a kitchen, that was world of amazing smells, with Christmas music playing and my ex-wife and girlfriend, laughing and talking. By the way they were getting along, if I didn't know better, I would have thought they'd been friends for a long time. 

"Hello there, sleepyheads," Renee kissed my lips, as she greeted us. Callie had already picked up Sophia, and started kissing her cheeks, as she hugged her tightly. Seeing Callie and our daughter together always makes me smile. 

"What's for dinner, ladies? Napping is hard work, I don't know about you both, but I'm starving." My stomach started grumbling, loudly.

"Well, "Hungry Hippos," I put together an appetizer platter." Callie spoke, as she ushered her hand, palm side up, towards the kitchen table. 

"Sweetie, do you want something to drink?" Renee was asking me, as she pointed back and forth to her cocktail station and our wine fridge.

"Wine, please and thank you!" I said, as I eagerly pointed towards the wine fridge.

"We are having pasta with mixed seafood, sourdough bread and salad. We are keeping it simple," Renee replied.

"Oh, who are you kidding Renee, you never keep things simple, with anything you do." I smirked, as I spoke and swatted my girlfriend in the butt. "If I know you, there's at least 3 different kinds of seafood in that dish."

"Actually, there are 4!" Renee smirked back at me as her dimples lit up the room. "Dungeness crab, shrimp, scallops and clams." She seemed a little too proud of herself, which made me smile.

Within 20 minutes, we had sat down at the kitchen table and started clanking forks and plates as all of us, scarfed down our food. Clearly we were a hungry group. 

After we cleaned the kitchen, the 4 of us made and decorated sugar cookies for Santa and left them to set-up, on the cooling racks, as Sophia took her bath. 

As a Christmas Eve surprise, I bought Sophia new Christmas pajamas and had them laid out on her bed, for after her bath. They were flannel and had images that looked like her teddy bear, "Bainbridge," on them. She was delighted to find them waiting for her.

Right before Callie read Sophia a Christmas story for bedtime, Sophia helped set out the milk and cookies for Santa, and the carrots for the reindeer. She was so excited, I was beginning to wonder if she'd be able to fall asleep that night as she trotted down the hall to her bedroom.