The Truth
“Clarke, what’s going on?” Lexa asks, still half asleep and a little drunk but she can tell something is wrong. Finn’s face is pale and Mercedes’ eyes are basically bulging out of her head in surprise. And Clarke..well Clarke looks a mixture of sad and angry.
“Do you want to tell her or should I?” Clarke says carefully to Mercedes. Mercedes looks like she’s on the verge of tears.
“Fuck this.” Finn curses out, shaking his head. “I don’t want to be a part of this shit.”
“Well you are, Finn, whether you like it or not.” Clarke spits out. “So why don’t you try and be a decent human being for 12 seconds.”
Everyone in the room is stunned into silence after that. Nobody ever really calls Finn out on his shit. Lexa assumed Clarke would be the last person to have an outburst like that.
“Baby what’s going on? Are you okay?” Lexa walks over to Clarke and cups her cheeks. Suddenly a very horrible idea pops into her head. Her stomach is in knots and anger courses through her veins just at the thought. “Did Finn hurt you?” Lexa grits the words out.
“Oh no. Lex no, it’s nothing like that.” Clarke assures her and Lexa calms a little but she’s still very confused and now she’s getting frustrated. “Well can someone please fill me in then? What the hell is going on?” Lexa says to nobody in particular. The room goes silent again.
“Lexa..” Mercedes starts out, her voice shaky and lacking its normal confidence. “I..there’s something I need to tell you.”
Lexa nods and waits patiently for Mercedes to continue speaking. Lexa hasn’t really seen much of Mercedes. She has been to doctor’s visits with her but that’s it. She regrets not being there more but she has had so much going on lately. Lexa promises herself to be there more for the mother of her child.
“Okay..is something...is it the baby?” Lexa asks worriedly, grabbing Clarke’s hand for strength. Did something happen to their baby? Dread fills Lexa’s stomach. Suddenly, Lexa can’t stop thinking about the child she wasn’t ready for. She can’t stop thinking about how even though she wasn’t ready to be a parent, she still loves the little bug and it hasn’t even been born yet.
“The baby is fine.” Mercedes assures her quickly and Lexa relaxes slightly, still unsure where this is going. “But..it might not be yours.” Mercedes says and immediately the color drains from Lexa’s face. She clutches onto Clarke’s hand for dear life.
“What? You lied to me?” Lexa is in disbelief and disgusted. How could she lie like that?
“I really thought this baby is yours..I still do. I just...me and Finn slept together twice around the same time we were together...so there’s a chance the baby is Finn’s, not yours.” Mercedes hurries to explain, the immense guilt evident on her face. “I couldn’t hold this in any longer. All this stress and guilt isn’t good for the baby. I wanted to tell you sooner but my parents kicked me out and I had nowhere to go and I thought if I told you, you would have kicked me out.” Mercedes is on the verge of tears. Lexa stands there in shock. “Just please say something.”
Lexa looks at everyone in the room. Finn is standing there, fuming and pouting. Mercedes is basically shaking. And Clarke is looking at her worriedly.
“You knew?” Lexa asks softly, not wanting to believe that Clarke knew and didn’t tell her. She really hopes that isn’t the case. Deep down, she knows Clarke would have told her if she knew.
“I just found out a few minutes out Lex.” Clarke says gently, aware of how emotionally fragile Lexa must be right now. Lexa swallows heavy and nods.
“Lexa..I’m so sorry.” Mercedes says quietly, begging for forgiveness.
“You’re sorry.” Lexa softly laughs but it’s bitter. Lexa shakes her head and rubs the back of her neck. She feels completely awake and sober now.
“I think you two would make great parents. I don’t think I have any place in this equation.” Finn says weakly, still trying to get out of this without his parents finding out.
“Collins, stop trying to weasel your way out of your responsibilities. If this baby is yours, you need to own up to that and be a parent. Don’t be that person. It will follow you for the rest of your life.” Lexa says honestly. She feels like she’s in a state of shock. She doesn’t know how she’s acting this calm. The old Lexa would have freaked out and ran away from her problems. She feels much calmer though with Clarke, her rock, by her side.
Finn just bites her lip and shuts up. Everyone is quiet, trying to gauge Lexa’s reaction right now. Even Clarke is worried about her. Clarke holds her hand tighter, to remind her that she’s there for her now and always.
“I need to know the truth. We all do. We need a paternity test. There’s no use fighting or talking about this further until then.” Lexa says firmly. Mercedes looks to the floor and nods and so does Finn. Lexa looks over at Clarke and the blonde can see the utter exhaustion and anger in her eyes. Clarke looks back at her though and somehow, Lexa knows it’s all gonna be okay.
///
3 weeks later
“So is that all of it?” Lexa asks Mercedes as she finishing packing away her last suitcase into Finn’s car. Very soon after that talk that night, they all agreed to a paternity test and immediately went for the test. The test results came back, revealing that Finn is in fact the baby’s other biological parent.
Lexa felt relieved but at the same time a little empty. There was a period where she kept imagining her little baby in her arms, taking care and loving the infant. It was a weird process of almost mourning but Lexa knows everything happens for a reason.
Finn’s parents stepped up and offered for Mercedes to stay with them. They are still trying to convince Finn to marry Mercedes, an idea that Mercedes also likes because then her parents with accept her again. Finn is thinking about it but only if they can have an open marriage. He keeps bragging to the basketball team that he ‘stole’ Lexa Woods’ ‘girl.’ Lexa just shakes her head and laughs. For Finn, reputation in high school is everything. She feels bad for him.
“Yeah..thanks Lexa...for everything.” Mercedes says awkwardly. The tension in the house has been very awkward. Laurel has not held back her anger with Mercedes for lying to her sister.
“Of course..take care of you and the baby, okay?” Lexa says honestly. “And you know, if you need anything...I’m around. If Collins is ever a jerk…” Lexa trails off and Mercedes chuckles softly.
“Oh I can handle Finn trust me, but thank you..truly for everything. I was so horrible during this whole thing. I caused problems between you and Clarke. I caused so many problems. I just..I really made a mess of this all, didn’t I?”
“I mean honestly, this could have all been avoided if you didn’t lie..but I get it. You were scared and your parents were kicking you out of the house. I really understand. And as far as me and Clarke, we had problems because I lied to her. That was on me. Just focus on being the best mom you can be now, okay?”
“Yeah..it’s a scary idea. Me as a mom.” Mercedes says and lexa nods.
“You’ll do great though.” Lexa says softly. Despite all the lying, Lexa doesn’t hate Mercedes. She just wants to put all this behind her and move on. Mercedes nods and moves towards the passenger seat door of Finn’s car. She turns around and looks at Lexa.
“Clarke is really lucky.” Mercedes says simply.
Lexa smiles, to herself mostly. “It’s the other way around.”
Lexa goes back into the house, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders. Everything is slowly falling into place. Her and Clarke are back together and stronger than ever. They are working on communicating much much more. Beatrice hasn’t come around since her father’s funeral. And her emancipation process is almost completed. Everything is okay right now.
“Hey baby..” Clarke says as she comes up from behind Lexa and wraps her arms around her. “Wanna watch a movie and fool around?” Clarke says and Lexa chuckles, turning around so that she’s facing Clarke.
“How could I say no to that?” Lexa says softly and kisses her girlfriend tenderly. Clarke knows how hard this whole Mercedes thing has been on her so she figured a movie and some love might be a good way to keep her spirits up.
“I pick the movie, you pick the snacks?” Clarke says hopefully. She really wants to watch ‘Pulp Fiction.’
Lexa chuckles and kisses Clarke’s forehead. “I already know you’re going to pick ‘Pulp Fiction,’ Clarke.” Lexa smiles and Clarke gives her a quick peck.
“Well I already know you’re going to pick strawberry ice cream and pretzels as our movie snack.” Clarke quips back. Lexa smiles wide. How did she get so lucky? It’s moment like these that make her heart beat so fast. Clarke, bare faced and with her hair in a messy bun, lazing around the house in pjs. Clarke’s soft lazy kisses and contagious laughs. This is her everything and Lexa is positive that it won’t get any better than this. Clarke is it for her. And she couldn’t be happier about that.