Family Times
Chapter 45 : Family Times
Song : Cool Blue by The Japanese House
“Clarke, about what Ayden said earlier...” Lexa began her voice full of insecurities.
Clarke looked up. Those were the moments Clarke cherished the more; when Lexa would show a bit of her brokenness, a bit of her own vulnerability, only for Clarke to see.
“He chose his words on his own, Lexa” Clarke murmured, kissing her behind the ear.
“But doesn’t it bother you?” the Brunette asked again, still murmuring.
“Nope. I chose you. Looks like he chose you, too” Clarke smiled before kissing Lexa on the lips.
The doorbell suddenly rang, interrupting them. Clarke removed herself from Lexa’s embrace and walked to the door.
“I’ll tell them to wait a few more minutes before we come down for dinner and...” Clarke said, thinking some of her friends were here to tell them dinner was ready. But Clarke froze when she opened the door and saw who was on the doorstep.
“Hello, Clarke”, the person said.
Clarke was left frozen at the door. As Lexa was waiting for her, and as Clarke wasn’t coming back and not a noise was heard, Lexa got up to see what was going on.
Lexa froze too, seeing who was at the door. But contrary to Clarke, she quickly regained her composure. She protectively put an arm around Clarke, grounding her.
“Mrs Griffin” Lexa said with her formal voice.
Abby Griffin was surprised to see that the brunette knew her name. And what was she doing here, in her daughter’s apartment?
“Who are you?” Abby eyed Lexa.
“You may not remember me” Lexa said, “But you may know my name. I’m Lexa Woods” Lexa introduced herself, holding a formal hand for Abby to shake.
Abby shook the hand, still not quite understanding what was going on. She knew the name of Lexa Woods, of course. She was Coalition Corp’s CEO, everyone knew that name. She knew Lexa would have lead Skaikru Company too, if it would have been still alive.
Clarke, next to Lexa, was livid. Her mother was here. Her mother had just rung to her door. And that couldn’t be good news. Clarke felt Lexa’s hold tighten a bit; just what Clarke needed for support. Lexa didn’t really know about Clarke’s relationship with her mother, but she knew all the delinquents had had problems with their fathers, and judging by the fear which was running through Clarke’s entire body, Clarke’s mother was no different than the rest of the parents.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Clarke asked in a whisper.
“I heard about Finn” Abby began, looking at her daughter without an ounce of sympathy in her eyes, “What did you do to him?”
Lexa almost chocked with her saliva as Clarke was lowering her head. Her own mother had just presumed Clarke had been the one to mess with the douche-bag her ex-boyfriend was.
“I heard he’s in jail, what happened?” Abby continued, “Are you responsible for this? Did you...”
“That’s enough!” Lexa didn’t let Abby keep talking, “You don’t get to come ring at your daughter’s door coming out of nowhere to accuse her of things you don’t know about” Lexa said, her voice very cold as Clarke was trying to be impossibly closer to her, “So I am going to ask you to leave, now”.
Abby’s eyes shot open at the Brunette’s. “You have no right” Abby began to get angry, “And what are you doing in my daughter’s apartment anyways?”
Lexa’s blood was beginning to boil very hot. “I am Clarke’s girlfriend, who she happens to live and raise her son with” Lexa almost spitted to Abby’s face, “So you’re not welcome here. You know the way out of the building”.
And Lexa closed the door, locking it right after.
“You’ll hear about me!” Abby shouted from behind the door.
Clarke and Lexa waited for the noise of steps going down the stairs to relax a bit. Well, Lexa relaxed, but Clarke was as tense as she could possibly be.
Lexa ran her hands up and down Clarke’s arms to soothe her. “Clarke, talk to me” Lexa whispered, trying to look in her girlfriend’s eyes.
As Clarke wasn’t moving nor speaking, Lexa guided her to the bedroom and made her sat onto the bed. Then, she knelt in front of her, taking the Blonde’s hands in hers.
“Clarke, love, look at me” Lexa murmured, raising Clarke’s chin so they could look in each other’s eyes. Clarke finally made eye contact with Lexa. “Clarke, I once promised you I’ll protect you, both Ayden and you” Lexa gently said, “Even if I have to protect you from your own mother”.
And Clarke sighed, much to Lexa’s surprise. “I’m not afraid of what she might do to us” Clarke whispered, her voice shaking, “I’m afraid of what she might do to you”.
Lexa frowned; why would Abby do something to her?
“What do you mean?” Lexa asked, running her thumbs over the Blonde’s hands.
“My mother” Clarke whispered, “She can be... Very determined, sometimes” The Blonde sighed, “And don’t want something to happen to you”.
Lexa gently smiled, putting a hand on Clarke’s cheek, gently caressing the skin. “Clarke, I love you. And for you, I would face anything. Even your mother” Lexa added while rolling her eyes, making Clarke chuckle.
“Come on, dry your tears” Lexa smiled to her girlfriend, “Your friends are waiting for us”.
Clarke quickly wiped her tears, looking into green eyes. Lexa gave her another genuine smile and got up as Clarke was catching her wrist to keep her from going. Lexa shot her an interrogating look.
“Thank you, Lexa” Clarke said, and Lexa understood Clarke was not thanking her only for tonight. Lexa smiled and hold her hand for Clarke to take. The Blonde linked their fingers together.
“Oh, and Clarke?”
“Yes?” The Blonde answered.
“Raven knows about all the Skaikru business” Lexa said, making Clarke widen her eyes a bit, “We will have to do something about it, soon”.
It was not a threat; it was a simple observation, now that people were starting to figure out Clarke and the group were Skaikru, they would need to do something about it.
“I know. After the trial” Clarke said.
“After the trial” Lexa nodded.
They smiled at each other as they made their way to the living-room where Ayden was still drawing with his tongue out, eyebrows crunched in concentration.
As soon as Octavia opened the door, Ayden was running into the apartment towards Anya, chatting with Harper and Monty.
“Aya!” He happily shouted, holding his arms so Anya could lift him.
To say that Anya was surprised was a euphemism. Clarke and Lexa were surprised as well; Ayden had not seen Anya that much to react that way to the girl, but well, if Ayden was opening up to people, it was a great thing. Anya lifted the boy in her arms as Clarke and Lexa were saying hello to their friends.
“Hi Ayden, how are you?” Anya asked, not quite knowing what to do with the child.
“I am great!” He said with a big smile, “Are you great too?”
“Yes” Anya laughed at the boy’s enthusiasm.
“Aya, I have a question” Ayden then said with serious.
Anya frowned, and went to sit on the couch with the boy on his knees. “What is your question?”
“You are Yexa’s cousin, right?” He asked.
“Yes, I am” Anya answered, still frowning because she couldn’t see the point in the boy’s words.
“So why don’t you live with Yexa and Mommy and I?” The boy asked with a frown.
Anya took a few seconds to answer. “Because I have a home on my own”.
“But family lives together” Ayden stated, frowning even more.
“Not always, little man” Anya tried to explain, “Yexa lives with you and Clarke because she loves both of you very much” The older girl said, “You are a family, all three together. I am family too, but not at the same level. Do you understand?”
Ayden frowned even more. “Yexa and Mommy are family like Octavia and Lincoln?”
“Yes, like Octavia and Lincoln” Anya nodded, glad the boy had found a comparison.
“And you are family with Yexa like Octavia and Bellamy are family” He said again.
“Yes, kind of” Anya nodded again with a smile; it quickly fade when she saw that Ayden was looking a bit upset and sad.
“Ayden, what is it?” Anya gently asked, moving her hand through his hair.
“What if Mommy and Yexa don’t love each other anymore?” He asked with a voice near breaking, “Will Yexa and you not be family anymore?”
Anya’s heart broke, and she buried the boy in her embrace. Something I thought I would never do, take a child in my arms, Anya said in her mind.
“Ayden” She gently whispered, “You will always be family to us. Lexa loves you; she was friend with you before being friend with your mommy, remember?”
Ayden nodded as he was sniffing.
“And I will always be family to you too” Anya added in a tender voice she never thought she had, “Whether Lexa and Clarke love each other or not, ok?”
“Ok” He sniffed, grabbing Anya shirt in his fists, “I want Yexa now” he asked.
Anya nodded, and looked around in the room for his cousin. She caught her eyes and gestured at Lexa to come join her.
“Hi An” Lexa said with a smile, “How are you doing...” Lexa trailed off as her smile was fading at looking at the sniffing boy in Anya’s arms.
Lexa quickly sat next to her cousin as Ayden was throwing himself at her neck. Lexa shot Anya her questioning look as the older girl was gesturing to the boy; ask him, Anya mouthed before leaving.
Lexa frowned as she began to draw circles on the boy’s back.
“Ayden, what is going on buddy?” She gently asked.
“Anya said you love my Mommy” He said.
“Yes” Lexa nodded, not understanding why it was making him sad, “Does it bother you?”
“Are you going to stop loving her?” Ayden asked instead of answering Lexa’s question.
Lexa was starting to understand what was upsetting the little boy. She made him sat properly on her knees so he could be face to face with her.
“Ayden, love is a complicated thing” Lexa started, “So we cannot know for sure what will happen in the future” Lexa stopped to make sure Ayden was following her. The boy surely was; he was wearing his “focused” frown from whenever he was trying to figure something out.
“But I love your Mom very very much, Ayden” Lexa spoke again, “And I want to love her forever and stay with her as long as she wants me in her life. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon” Lexa added, “I love you both too much for that. Do you understand?”
“So we will be family for a long time?” Ayden asked, his eyes beginning to be filled with hope instead of tears.
“For as long as possible” Lexa nodded with a smile. “Ayden, your mommy and yourself, you are the most precious thing in my life, and I love you both more than anything. I don’t want to leave you; I want the three of us to be a family forever”.
“So that means you kiss Mommy on the mouth?!” He shouted out of nowhere, his mouth and eyes fully widened.
Lexa busted into laughter, the emotional moment long gone. “Yes I do” She giggled, “You both changed my life, and I want to kiss the both of you everywhere” Lexa added, beginning to blow raspberries on Ayden’s face.
“Stop it Yexa!” He laughed, only to be tickled a second later by his mom. “Not you too Mommy!” He shouted as Clarke was watching Lexa with loving eyes.
“What?” Lexa smiled to her girlfriend.
“You are the one who saved our lives” Clarke truthfully answered, having heard the end of the conversation between Lexa and Ayden.
Lexa’s smile shook a bit as emotions were rolling inside her, and she leaned towards the Blonde to kiss her.
“That is gross!” Ayden said with a big smile as Lexa and Clarke were kissing, “Stop it!”
“I don’t want to stop” Lexa said with a cocky smile, much to Clarke’s surprise who was figuring out she loved that part of Lexa. Lexa leaned once more towards the Blonde as Ayden was trying to get off of Lexa’s knees.
“Stop it! It’s gross!” He giggled, and then shouted to Raven and Monty as they were coming into the apartment, “Rae! Yexa won’t stop kissing Mommy! Help me it’s gross!”
Raven made her way towards the couch a everyone was now watching the boy, “It is very gross indeed!” Raven said, quickly grabbing Ayden in her arms and running towards the kitchen, “Quick! We need to hide from all this grossness!”
Soon, everyone in the loft was laughing. Well, Anya was laughing less than the others; she had noticed Raven’s face’s expressions when she had taken the boy in her arms. The girl was in pain, and no one had noticed.
Anya corrected herself a few seconds later; Clarke was carefully watching Raven moving around with her son in her arms. Clarke had noticed Raven’s pain, too, and was apparently monitoring her for all sign of pain the girl couldn’t handle.
Anya was starting to get why Clarke seemed to be the leader of the group; she was watching everything, thinking of everything. More calm, more attentive to details, more selfless. She was putting the others first; and not only her son.
“Ok, dinner’s ready!” Bellamy said, gesturing for everybody to take a sit.
Only then Lexa noticed her cousin was here. As Anya was taking a sit between Lexa and Raven, Lexa leaned on her side to talk to Anya.
“Anya, what are you doing here?” Lexa whispered as she noticed the tiny blush on his cousin’s cheeks.
“Hum, Raven invited me?” Anya said in a sigh, well knowing she couldn’t hide it from Lexa anyway.
“Is that a question, or is it an answer?” Lexa kept going on teasing her older cousin.
“Shut up, will you?” Anya huffed, her voice still low as she was pretending Lexa wasn’t there. Lexa smiled and reported her attention to the food on her plate.
The evening keep going until it was late at night. Ayden was long asleep on Clarke’s knees, who was fighting with sleep too, Monty was yawning every second, Bellamy, Lincoln, Octavia and Lexa were engaged in a very deep conversation as Anya was trying to catch Raven’s attention.
The older Woods was sensing that something was off with Raven; the girl had barely looked at her the entire evening, as if she was purposely avoiding Anya’s stares.
Raven sat on a couch and Anya took it as her clue to approach the girl.
“Raven, is everything ok?” Anya asked, keeping her voice down.
“Yeah yeah” Raven shrugged off, “I’m just tired, that’s all”.
“Oh, okay” Anya answered, not knowing what else to say.
They stayed silent for a few minutes until Anya felt her hand being moved away from her own knee.
“You can hold me” Raven whispered, putting Anya’s arm behind her head and making herself comfortable against the girl’s body.
Anya was a bit surprised but didn’t lose time to put both her arms around the brunette. After all, they had kissed the day before. She guessed she could hold the girl; and if she was honest, she was totally fine to have Raven in her arms.
Lexa, who had finished her discussion with the others, came to sit next to Clarke and discreetly gestured to Anya and Raven holding each other.
“They are so into each other” Clarke whispered as it was making Lexa smile.
“It certainly looks like it” Lexa hummed, putting her arms around Clarke’s torso.
It made Clarke smile, “Clingy, aren’t we?” the Blonde teased her girlfriend.
“Am not” Lexa pouted, but didn’t removed her arms.
“You sure are” Clarke stated, not with a smile on her face to show Lexa she didn’t mind one bit.
Lexa hummed, burying her nose into Clarke’s neck. Clarke rose her brows; Lexa was clingy, more than usual.
Everyone was starting to get up to leave as it was late, so Clarke gently removed herself from Lexa’s arms, took the sleeping Ayden in her arms and got up. Lexa watched her with a frown, but then smiled as Clarke was holding her hand to get her up.
“Come on” Clarke gently said, “Let’s go home”.
Lexa nodded and rose to her feet, intertwining her fingers with Clarke’s.
“Goodbye everyone” Clarke said as Lincoln was getting up to bring them back home.
“Bye Clarke!” Octavia said with a smile.
“Hum Clarke, can I just talk to you for a second..?” Raven suddenly said, acting all shy. Clarke nodded, while she was surprised by Raven’s behaviour. It was not like the girl to be this shy.
Lexa took Ayden from Clarke’s arms and came downstairs to buck the boy in the car and wait for Clarke.
Clarke followed Raven into the kitchen. The Blonde watched as her friend was fidgeting with her shirt.
“Yes, Rae?” Clarke gently asked, knowing the girl probably needed a little push to start talking.
“Hum... Tomorrow it’s Finn’s trial” Raven started, not looking at Clarke.
Clarke shivered, knowing well it was. “Yes”.
“I just wanted you to know that...” Raven trailed off as she was searching for words. But as she didn’t finish her sentence, Clarke approached the girl.
“What is it, Rae?” Clarke asked again with a warm voice.
And then, to her surprise, Raven broke into tears. Clarke quickly buried the girl in her arms as Raven was sliding both her arms around Clarke’s shoulders, grounding them together.
“Rae, what is going on? Talk to me” Clarke whispered, tightening her embrace on her crying friend.
“I just... I am so sorry, Clarke” Raven hiccupped.
“What are you sorry for?” Clarke answered, frowning at the Brunette.
“I know him by heart, I should have figured it out” Raven explained, her sentence completely broken by the sobs she was now letting out.
“Oh Raven” Clarke murmured, her own tears threatening to fall, “None of this is your fault. No one could have seen it coming. You are a good friend, Rae, the best” Clarke added, drawing patterns on the girl’s back to calm her down.
“I love you...” Raven sobbed into Clarke’s neck.
“And I love you too” Clarke whispered, “Forever, no matter what. We are in this together, ok?” Clarke asked, knowing tomorrow would be as difficult for her as for Raven.
“Okay” Raven weakly nodded, her tears finally slowing down.
“Okay” Clarke repeated, breaking the embrace and wiping the remaining tears from Raven’s cheeks. “We are strong women. Nothing can tear us down”.
“Nothing can tear us down” Raven repeated, a weak smile growing in her face as her eyes was still a bit watery.
“We will get through this, I promise” Clarke murmured, both her hands on Raven’s shoulders, “And when it is over, we have serious business to talk about.”
Raven eyed her friend, pretending not to understand.
“Do not play fool with me Raven Reyes” Clarke chuckled, “I know you know”.
Raven’s eyes shot open. “I didn’t know you knew! How did you knew I knew?”
“Another talk for another day” Clarke winked at her friend, “Goodnight Raven”.
Raven smiled, happy to see Clarke didn’t appear to be mad at her, “Goodnight Clarke”.
They exchanged a last smile before Clarke was gone in the stairs.
Only then Raven noticed Anya standing not far from her, apparently not knowing what to do with herself.
“Hum, I think I’m going to go...” Anya trailed off once she finally had Raven’s attention.
Raven frowned. “No. Stay. Please..?”
Anya thought about it for a few seconds. She wasn’t doing this. She didn’t do this, usually. But then she looked at Raven again. Fuck it.
“I’ll stay” Anya smiled to Raven, as Raven was smiling back and was taking Anya by the hand to go to her own apartment.