Isabella Torres-Robbins

Isabella Torres-Robbins

“I loved Halloweentown too. Well… Not the last one where they recast Marnie, but the first three were golden. The recast was too jarring for me to like the last one.” The words rushed out, the way they tended to be whenever she got excited about something. “Thank you, took long enough to perfect it. I like the creativity in your’s - it’s super sweet. And you can tell your baby they were the cutest unborn child at their first Halloween party.” 

“Yeah, the recast was a little much for our little brains at the time,” she shook her head but her smile remained big. Halloween was her favorite holiday and she could only imagine that this time next year, she’d have a little to take trick-or-treating. “I know you worked hard on it. I remember running into you at the cafe when it was just a sketch.” She remembered because Louise hit her with a ball of paper instead of the trashcan. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure about showing up but I’m glad I did. I’m really enjoying seeing all of the costumes... and the food is a plus.”

If it hadn’t been for Ayla being so excited about the family costume idea, Jameson probably wouldn’t have attended this Halloween get together at all. Now that he was walking using a cane, and sometimes crutches, the pain in his leg was often even more noticeable as he was using the muscles more frequently; and that would have been the perfect excuse to not go. His parents weren’t talking to him, his siblings weren’t at this get together, and he could have easily stayed home on the couch watching Halloween movies or found a Seattle friend to spend time with. But when she’d asked him to go as Prince Eric, those big eyes staring up at him, he hadn’t been able to say no. Taking a break by sitting at a table, Jameson took a sip of water and then turned his attention to someone as they walked up to him. “Hey, what’s up?”

Isabella almost opted out of coming to the Halloween event that the hospital was throwing but she loved Halloween and all of her family was going. She couldn’t drink but figured she’d still have a good time just enjoying her family. She doesn’t get to see much of them with their hectic work schedules so anytime she could get, she’d relish in it. Stuffing her face with sweets, she noticed Jameson sitting alone at a table. She walked up to him with a sweet smile on her face. “I can’t believe I’m in the face of royalty,” she teased. “Prince Eric, may I accompany you at your table?” 

“Are you allowed to question people’s parenting, without actually being one yourself?” It was a seemingly random question, but she’d made a beeline for the first person she recognised after explaining an aspect of her costume for the eighth time so far. “Because I’ve had to tell eight different people that it’s supposed to be a mop and not a broom. Sarah rides a mop when their brooms get stolen, it’s pretty obvious. Least I thought it was, now I’m wondering what films people had their kids watch on Halloween if they don’t know every little detail of Hocus Pocus. And if you didn’t let your kids watch that movie…. Then you must have hated them, right?” 

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying they hated them but that’s some pretty bad parenting if your kid has never seen Hocus Pocus,” she joked. She didn’t actually think it was bad parenting but it was pretty surprising to her that Louise had to explain her mop to eight different people. It was pretty obvious, at least to her it was. “We watched Hocus Pocus every October growing up. That and the Halloweentown series. I find it hard to believe that people really don’t get your costume. I think it’s amazing.”

Arizona had always prided herself on being the fun mom, the happy one so even when she was sick, if the kids were tiny she was always faking it until she felt better. As the two sat there in silence, Arizona sighed as she allowed herself to lean against Isa for a moment, she was so tired. Shrugging, the blonde hummed at the question, her eyes soft as she thought about what to say. “Me and Mama?” Anything to stall, of course they weren’t. “I’m not sure,” she admitted, a quiet sigh falling. “What are you doing around here?”

Isabella ran her fingers through her mother’s hair as the blonde leaned against her for a moment. “You should get some rest,” she suggested. If not at home, then the hospital was the next best thing. Her eyebrows furrowed at her mother’s response to her question. She was unsure if things were okay between the two of them and that made the young girl worry. She was about to press more when her mother asked what she was doing at the hospital. “I was looking for Sofia... I wanted to take her to lunch but she was busy... I’m glad I ran into you though. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Arizona quickly made the move to pull the blankets up and over herself but there wasn’t any point. Before she could her daughter was in the room, a cool hand reaching out to touch her forehead. The contrast of cool hand to warm forehead had a shiver running through the fetal surgeons body and she sighed. God, this was awful and yet she forced herself to sit up a little. She always prioritized being tough for her kids and so she forced a light smile, brushing tiredness from her eyes as she did. “ Mama doesn’t want that right now, so here I am. I’m fine though, sweetie. Just a little sick.”

It was rare that she caught one of her parents in this vulnerable state of being sick. She couldn’t really recall them being sick much growing up but that’s probably because most of the time, they acted like they were fine in front of her and her siblings. They always prioritized their children and Isabella was grateful for that. She wanted to be the type of parent her parents were to her future little one. Speaking of, it may not be the best time to tell her mother she was expecting but she knew the rumor would be out soon so she had to go ahead and tell her now before she found out through someone else. Isa was about to speak when her mother mentioned her mama. She cocked her head to the side a bit and asked, “Is everything okay between you and Mama?”

“I’d be an idiot to turn that down, especially when my only other option for the evening is a hot date with my couch,” she beamed. “Shall we go, then?”

“We shall,” she smiled, reaching out a hand for her sister to hold. She couldn’t decide if she should tell her now or wait until they got to the film festival. Isa was unsure how her family would react to the news but had hope that they’d be excited for her and supportive. “We could probably walk there but it might be easier to just drive.”

This was embarrassing, completely and utterly embarrassing. Arizona was settled in an on call room, leaning against the wall as she sat on the bed, hacking up a lung. Who came to work sick? Not her usually to be fair, but in her fevered state, she may have said some things to piss Callie off that she had no explanation for and now here she was banished. In between hacks it was only then did she realize that someone now stood in the doorway, and she gasped. “Please don’t tell anyone you saw me like this. I’m begging you.”

She’d just finished her doctor’s appointment ans texted her sister asking if she wanted to go to lunch. Waiting around for her to reply, the raven haired girl decided to find an empty on-call room. She thought she could rest her feet while she waited on Sofia. Opening a door slowly, she noticed her mother. She didn’t look nor sound good. “Mommy?” she asked when she entered, closing the door behind her. She walked up to her and laid a hand on her forehead, “You’re burning up. You need to go home.”

“Mhm,” Sofia hummed, quickly slipping out of the dress she had on and into the other option. “This is about as casual as it’s getting, I don’t really wanna wear pants,” she scrunched her nose. “Aside from essentially just being a fancy movie theater experience, does anything else fun happen at these things?”

Isabella let her sister get changed before getting up to follow Sofia out of the room. “I mean, there’s fancy food and drinks but other than being a glorified movie theater experience, there’s not much more. I think there’s gonna be a raffle and maybe some contests to enter but that’s really it.”

“Is this more appropriate?” Sofia held up her next clothing option with furrowed eyebrows, just before glancing down at what she was already wearing. “I’ve never actually been to one of these things, so I have no clue what the hell you’re supposed to wear. Sue me.”

“I think it’s still a little too dressy,” she said, looking up at her sister from her seated position. “It’s a film festival. Think casual.” She still hasn’t told anyone that she was expecting and figured she’d start with Sofia today.

Picking up one of the discarded sketches, she narrowed her eyes at the sketch trying to figure out if she could alter anything to make it better - before ultimately balling it back up, glancing over at the question. “A Halloween costume. But sort of an assignment for college too - well maybe… Think at this rate, I might have to scrap everything I had in mind and make a costume and then a separate thing for the assignment. Because nothing is working out.” She shrugged, gesturing vaguely to the paper in front of her.  

Popping a piece of her pastry into her mouth, her eyes narrowed in on her sketches. Granted, she was viewing them from upside down but they looked pretty good. Though she knew from being a creative, their work was never quite finished. It had to be perfect. She understood that. “Can I have a peek? Or are you one of those people that don’t like showing people their work until it’s finished?”

“No, you can sit if you want.” Gesturing to the chair across from her, before trying to gather as much of her things over to her side of the table as she could to make room for the other. “It was empty when I came in, don’t know where the rush came from. Maybe everyone collectively had that moment only caffeine can solve. Sort of got lost in my own little world and didn’t even realise how busy it was until… well until you just pointed out there’s no free tables.” 

Isa sat down across from the girl and watched her as she gathered her things. She was curious what the girl was working on that seemed to have her so consumed that she didn’t notice the environment around her. She popped a piece of the pastry in her mouth and sighed at the taste before looking back up at the blonde. “What are you working on?”

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting in the coffee shop, but it was long enough to gather four cups in front of her and numerous bits of scrunched up paper. She’d been trying to design the perfect halloween costume and finding things wrong with each new sketch, no matter how small the ‘flaw’ was if it wasn’t perfect, the paper was discarded. Scrunching one up in annoyance, she threw it over to where the bin was - the fact it rolled back being her clue that she’d thrown it at someone. “Sorry.” She mumbled, leaning down to pick up the piece of paper without taking her eyes off the newest sketch. “My aim clearly leaves something to be desired.” 

Isabella didn’t usually drink coffee but it was one of those mornings. She didn’t sleep well last night, overslept this morning, couldn’t properly detangle her hair and then one of her students threw up in the middle of the dance floor so they had to end class early. The girl was exhausted and moody so she found herself in the coffee shop. After picking up her order, she moved to find an empty table. That’s when she was hit by a paper ball. “You’re okay,” she smiled at the girl who threw the paper and recognized her from the store a couple of weeks ago when she found herself stuck in the baby section. “Mind if I join you? There’s no empty tables.”

Arizona hadn’t been expecting anyone, especially not Isabella but as she was making her coffee after a long night shift, she heard the door slide open. For a moment, her lip worried between her teeth because she thought it was Callie, but seeing the girl, she grinned brightly and excitedly, more so than she had in ages. “Is, hi baby!” Long forgotten was her late shift as the blonde wrapped her arms around her daughter in return. “I missed you too, how are you?”

Isabella sighed softly into her mother’s arms. She missed their hugs. Physical touch was the girl’s love language and she almost didn’t want to let go. Pullin back, she smiled at her mother. “I’m great. New York was amazing. I just missed my family so here I am.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She did miss her family but that wasn’t the only reason she was back. “How are you? How’s Mama and the rest of the family?”

“Incredible choice. I’ll have to check them out later. The peanut butter ones are incredible.” A fair food steeple and definitely not the worst thing for you in comparison to the various other things that could be found at the different food stands. “It’s nice to see you, though. I heard you were back in town. How was New York?” It was a city she’d visited a few times but not one she knew much about. Crowds of people weren’t really her thing. As the kids of the other doctors seemed to come and go she selfishly hoped that hers would stick around.

“There’s peanut butter ones?” she asked, eyes twinkling at the thought. “It’s nice to see you too. Yeah, I just got back last week.” When she was asked how New York was, her whole demeanor changed. Her whole body lit up as she talked about it. “New York was amazing. Exactly how you imagine it. It was hard work but I graduated top of my class at Julliard. I even danced on Broadway a few times. It was great.”