The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona

Some Wounds Never Heal Part II

Callie's POV:

"Hey everyone, guess who's all changed and ready to go again?" Ari was carrying Maddy back outside from just changing her diaper.

"Aunt Ari!" Sophia was outside with Arizona and myself when Ari appeared and walked out the backdoor. Sophia threw her arms around Ari's waist and gave her a quick hug, before she sprinted back inside to grab her mitt. We had already talked on the way to the store about playing catch that late morning.

"Hey sis, you should have told me you needed a ride! I would have been happy to come get you."

"Callie, I know I could have called you, but I needed the walk. It gave me time to do some thinking and get some exercise. Since I haven't been drinking, I've managed to find food vices and have gained over 10 pounds. The walk over here did me some good in many ways."

"We're always here if you need anything, but I know you are already aware of that." I walked over to Ari and gave her a hug. I then took Maddy from her, kissed my little one and placed her in the portable bassinet. She looked like she was about to fall asleep, so I made sure she was tucked in.

Sophia was back outside with my mitt and her own in record time. 

"Ari, help yourself to whatever you can find in the kitchen. The garage fridge has lots of different types of beverages to choose from too, if you want anything." 

Arizona spoke, as she continued to reseason the outdoor griddle. Soph and I had already created  some separation distance between us and had started playing catch.

"Thanks Arizona, I was going to go find something to drink here in a few minutes, but is there anything else I can do to help?"

"Ari, I just need to finish this last step and then I'll be set, but thank you for the offer."

Arizona patted Ari on the back and then carried Madelyn inside with her. I assumed that she was going to start the ribs at that point and would be feeding Maddy in the next hour. Meanwhile, the three of us, remained outside.

"Ari, I have another mitt in the garage if you want to play with us? It's on the wall shelf, next to my car." We quietly watched Ari disappear from the yard and then return a few minutes later with the mitt. So, the three of us formed a triangle to throw the ball around.

Arizona had turned on music on our outdoor sound system and the weather was warming up nicely. It was already in the low 70's and the skies were a cloudless, azure blue that day by early afternoon. The three of us were laughing and talking about when Ari and I played softball as we were growing up.

"Sophia, your Mom was a great player, just like you. I wasn't that good, but I always had fun playing. In fact, when I lived in Miami, I played with some of my coworkers on a league. I wasn't the best or the worst player, but I had fun."

"Your Aunt is better than she thinks, Sophia, trust me. She's a fierce competitor when she wants to be. She just needs to give herself more credit, which I think spills into other aspects of her life too." Ari rolled her eyes at me, but also nodded her head.

Arizona had already started the ribs since they take several hours to smoke and was busy going between the indoor kitchen to the outdoor kitchen, as we continued to play catch. Finally after about an hour, Arizona and a sleeping Madelyn had rejoined us outside.

Arizona was just finishing making hot dogs and bratwursts for the group to eat for lunch, so we stopped our game to grab food and sit together on the outside patio chairs and use the dining table. The four of us were busy eating and laughing when we heard the door to the treehouse open and then get locked.