Chapter XXI
Clarke's eyes flutter open to a new day. The golden morning light slices through the blinds and she can feel the warmth tingle on her cheek. Her entire body is buzzing with a pleasant warmth, from head to toe – most of all, her heart. She lies still, awestruck by the remarkable woman who lies peacefully asleep next to her.
What a sight.
Lexa's green tie still hangs loosely around her neck, evidence from last night's blindfold activities. The memories conjures up a smile on Clarke's lips and a blush to match the warmth on her cheeks. It's not the first time they've been too exhausted to deal with it before falling asleep. It most likely won't be the last either.
Like so many times before, Clarke studies the contours of Lexa's face; her long eyelashes, her jawline, the hint of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the softness of her lips. Somehow it feels different and new this time, and she itches to immortalize this moment right here in a sketch. She listens to Lexa's quiet breathing and suddenly feels the desire to run her fingers through chestnut hair.
So she does.
She feels a sheepish grin tug at the corners of her lips when she sees the ring on her finger slide through Lexa's hair; it's a sight she's sure she'll never get tired of. When Lexa's eyes flutter open just inches away from her own, Clarke is struck by a sudden jolt of happiness; sudden, yes, but not at all unexplainable.
"Goodmorning, wifey of mine," Clarke husks, and Lexa's lips curl into her favorite half smile.
Waking up for the first time as Lexa's wife feels pretty damn spectacular, Clarke thinks, and she reaches for Lexa's hand because she wants to see her ring too. They match. They're flat platinum bands and they had the jeweler engrave a snowflake and their wedding date on the inside.
Simple.
Them.
Clarke's mind replays yesterday. After the engagement, they had waited a year to have a low-key ceremony by the gazebo in the park, the blooming Japanese cherry trees against the blue sky and the mild Spring sun. It was simple and sentimental; it was their spot, just them and their closest family and friends.
Clarke brushes her thumb against Lexa's ring and replays the moment Lexa said 'I do'. It was perhaps the simplest of all things she's ever said, and Clarke doesn't quite have the words to describe what it makes her feel, but she knows just how to sketch it and she will, once she's done digesting the magic from yesterday.
"Clarke Griffin-Woods," Lexa murmurs against her lips, interrupting her daydreaming. Lexa saying her name still makes Clarke's heart flutter.
"Yes, wifey?" Clarke presses her lips softly against Lexa's wedding ring. Lexa responds by straddling Clarke's waist in one swift motion and it happens so fast that Clarke doesn't notice until Lexa's tie appears in her line of sight. Wasting no time, Clarke hooks a finger around the knot and pulls Lexa closer. "You in a tie – only a tie – is kinda hot," Clarke seduces, before pulling her the rest of the way to meet her lips. This is exactly what initiated the blindfold activities last night and Clarke feels a little helpless by the memories of Lexa in her grey dress pants and vest, white shirt sleeves folded by the elbows and that tie, green like her eyes – a soft smile on her lips and stars in her eyes. So suave, so Lexa. Just... magnified.
They don't have time for a replay so Clarke struggles with the images in her mind as she fumbles to untie the knot, then throwing the tie exasperatedly to the floor. "There, gone!" She sighs a relief against Lexa's warm lips. "We don't have time."
Lexa breaks the kiss with a chuckle. She leans down to place a kiss against Clarke's scar before jumping off the bed. Her eyes land on the ridded clothes on the floor and images of seeing Clarke in her dress for the first time washes over her. If the engagement ring increased Clarke's beauty tenfold, then the wedding dress undeniably went off the charts. She didn't want traditional and Lexa loves her all the more for it. She'd picked out a long dress in so many shades of blue that it reminded Lexa of an ocean wave. Lexa replays the moment when Clarke finally looks at her, her ocean blue eyes emerging from behind her eyelashes. Lexa clearly remembers the hitch in her own breath and the tears welling up. She remembers thinking that if this is a dream she never wants to wake up.
"Hey, you okay?" Clarke wraps her arms around Lexa's waist, hugging her from behind. Lexa nods. She's perfectly okay. She's blissfully ecstatic and delightfully overwhelmed. She's Lexa Griffin-Woods, the luckiest woman in the world, wife of Clarke Griffin-Woods, the most gorgeous, most caring, most talented woman of all time.
Yeah, she's okay.
Clarke leaves snowflake kisses melting against her shoulder blades. "Come take a shower with me?"
Lexa nods as she shifts to face Clarke. She steals one of those kisses that makes Clarke forget time, and then she steals one of those kisses that causes their shower to last significantly longer than first planned.
*
They've got about ten minutes before Mitchell picks them up, and while Clarke is finishing up after their shower, Lexa steals a couple of minutes by the piano. She opens the lid and is immediately hit by another memory from yesterday.
After the ceremony, everyone had driven up to the Woods Mansion to have a celebration dinner. It was a simple dinner, too. Good food, great company, a little alcohol. It was low-key and perfectly casual. Then after dessert, Clarke had risen from her chair and clinked a spoon gently against her wine glass to get everyone's attention.
Clarke had then cleared her throat before saying, “As you may know Lexa and I have decided not to give speeches. This is not a speech either. I just want to say two things. One, thank you to all of you for wanting to share this day with us. Two, as most of you may know Lexa copies most of my doodles in her own mutated stick man versions. You may have even seen a few of them at display around the house. And this is when I start to get nervous, so as to not prolong this moment more than necessary, please do me the honor and join me in the next room because I've got a surprise for my wife."
Lexa had then accepted the hand Clarke held out for her, letting herself being pulled up from her chair. She was guided into the piano room and Clarke had kissed her softly before telling her to take a seat. Clarke had proceeded to take a seat behind the piano while everyone else sat down around Lexa.
Taking a moment to observe her surroundings, Lexa had looked at everyone in the room: Abby and Jake, Indra and Gustus, Anya and Raven, Octavia and Lincoln, Bellamy and Niylah, Mitchell, too. They were all there and Clarke was sitting behind her childhood grand piano; Lexa's heart was nearly bursting from all the sentimental value roaming freely around her, inside her.
"Okay, so, I've had a little help from Lexa's old piano teacher, still, don't expect wonders. This is my piano version of Lexa's drawings," Clarke had said, her eyes glued to Lexa's.
Then Clarke had taken a deep breath and she'd started playing. Her technique was terrible but the music magical nonetheless. Because Clarke was playing the piano. She had secretly been taking lessons to learn to play this for Lexa on their wedding day and that's pretty damn beautiful. It's the biggest thing someone has ever done for Lexa.
Lexa lets the memory wash over her, letting it fill her body with warmth. Clarke joins her, arms wrapping around her waist, soft lips on her neck, distracting her from the piano.
"Is there room for one m--"
Lexa shifts to meet Clarke's lips, interrupting the familiar greeting, and she doesn't ever want to stop kissing her.
The doorbell rings through the hallway.
Lexa pouts due to the interruption and Clarke chuckles. "Come on, wifey, let's go to brunch. We can pick this up later," she says, offering Lexa her hand. Lexa grins by the sight of Clarke's wedding ring as she lets Clarke tug her off the piano bench.
*
They both sit in the backseat of Mitchell's car as he takes them back to the Woods Mansion. Clarke studies their entangled hands between them trying to remember the image for a future drawing; the lines, the shadows, how the ring on Lexa's finger reflects the sunlight. She runs her thumb along the ring thinking how easily it fulfills the task of making Lexa more beautiful; something she thought wasn't possible.
"Is this how you felt after you proposed to me?" Clarke asks.
Lexa looks at her with curious eyes.
"This." Clarke lifts their hands to press her lips against the ring. She feels a lot of things in this moment, things she doesn't know how to explain, things that makes her heart flutter. She knows Lexa understands. She can see it in her eyes, the way they soften, the way they hold her gaze.
"Yes," Lexa says, barely a whisper.
Sitting there in the backseat of Mitchell's car, Clarke mentally relives the moment when she slides the ring onto Lexa's finger, all shaky hands and a racing heart. Lexa had that same look in her eyes then too. That look was so intense that it left Clarke a teary mess, and Lexa had smiled at her and reached up to wipe her cheeks dry while Clarke had watched Lexa's own tears escape.
Sitting there in the backseat of Mitchell's car Lexa uses her free hand to catch that one tear hanging from Clarke's eyelashes. She leans in to kiss her wife softly just before Mitchell slows to a halt.
They're here.
Family brunch. Clarke's parents stayed the night in one of the many guest rooms, Raven and Anya too, a gesture meant to provide Clarke and Lexa with privacy on their first night as a married couple. After the engagement, Clarke had spent two weeks stocking up on courage before finally telling Raven she didn't need her to look after her anymore, that she should move in with Anya if that's what she wanted, that she didn't want to be the reason to hold them back; that she was ready. Clarke had cried because it felt a little like breaking up with someone, but then Raven had hugged her and told her that everything is okay, that she and Anya had actually talked about it but they both agreed that they wanted to stay, so unless Clarke and Lexa were kicking them out, they'd be staying in the house. At least for now.
"So how's married life?" Raven greets them as they enter the dining room, hands entwined and million dollar grins on their lips.
"Based on last night, it's one with not much sleep," Clarke quips as she takes a seat pulling laughter from Raven's lungs and a red blush on Lexa's cheeks.
"Please, no details," Anya groans.
"Where's everyone?" Clarke changes the subject mainly because she knows Lexa is a bit uncomfortable putting their sex life on display.
"Here." Abby says as she and Jake enters the room with Indra and Gustus right behind them. They're all carrying trays with food and beverages, placing it all on the table.
Clarke and Lexa gets up to greet everyone with a hug. Clarke hugs her parents for a little bit longer because she knows she won't see them for a while after this brunch. It's the main reason Clarke and Lexa insisted on having this brunch. It's supposed to be one last perfect family moment before they leave for their honeymoon.
And it is.
Clarke and Lexa's parents get along really well, finally having found in each other someone who finds talking about company projects interesting.
"Are you packed and ready?" Anya asks.
"Yep," Clarke smiles. Their luggage is sitting in the hallway waiting to be picked up. Once family brunch is over Mitchell will take them to pick up their luggage and then the airport.
Family brunch is over way too soon but Jake and Abby promises to come down for a visit again soon and Indra and Gustus promise they'll invite everyone for a family dinner when that happens.
*
Mitchell drives Clarke and Lexa back to the house and he stays in the car while they pick up their luggage. Clarke turns the key but lingers by the doorknob as memories from last night washes over her. Lexa presses a soft kiss to the corner of her lips, just like last night. She then proceeds to turn the doorknob for Clarke, and before Clarke can walk inside, she picks her up bridal style with a playful smile on her lips.
"Lex!" Clarke squeals, not having anticipated Lexa's move. Her arms automatically snakes around Lexa's neck and she feels Lexa's chuckle vibrate in her chest.
Lexa steps inside and gently brings Clarke back onto her feet, and they find themselves in a soft embrace; Lexa's arms around Clarke's waist and Clarke's still around Lexa's neck.
Just like last night.
Lexa dips her head to kiss Clarke meanwhile running one hand up Clarke's arm. She gently takes Clarke's hand and twirls Clarke around once before dipping her backwards, gracefully and gently.
Just like last night.
Clarke blushes because Lexa is looking at her like that again, like she hung the sun in the sky, and Lexa smiles sheepishly because she knows gestures like this makes Clarke blush.
"Clarke Griffin-Woods," Lexa whispers, a half smile dancing on her lips, then pulling Clarke back up into her embrace.
"Wifey of mine," Clarke sighs, "you need to stop being this smooth or we're going to miss our flight."
Lexa steals one last kiss before letting Clarke go, grinning like an idiot as she picks up their luggage and exits the house. Clarke exhales slowly to get her breathing back under control before leaving the house too.