The Matchmaker

Clarke Griffin loved both her parents, she didn't exactly have a favorite, and it was probably like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. However, she did have a better relationship with her father, her mom was a doctor and she worked odd hours, but Jake? Jake was an engineer who worked a 9 to 5 job, Clarke could always count on him to just be there.

She didn't resent Abby, of course, she didn't, Jake had explained that her mother saved lives, and how can someone resent a person for saving lives? It did, however, make her closer to Jake.

Jake Griffin was the kind of man Facebook posts were made about, the one who had learned how to make a perfect ponytail and would let little Clarke paint his nails, the kind of father that would sit with Clarke after dinner and read Harry Potter, Clarke was a smart kid, but she had trouble with her reading, so they would sit together and read a chapter each until it was time for bed, he was always with a gentle patient smile on his face while Clarke read in that slow paused way of little kids just learning how to read had.

They would watch the movies together and he would just laugh as Clarke all but fawned whenever Hermione Granger did something awesome (Which was always).

Jake had even acted all offended when Clarke had announced proudly that she was a Slytherin after Jake had proudly claimed he was a Gryffindor.

"It's not only in your blood, Clarke! It's in your last name too!" He had protested. Still, that Christmas there was a bunch of Slytherin things waiting for her under the tree, pajamas, a scarf, t-shirts, a hoodie, and a beanie. "I guess green does look good on you." He sighed dramatically.

They even got some Ravenclaw things for Abby. "Is this about the magic one or the one with the archer girl?" She had asked confused but let herself be submitted to a Harry Potter marathon while wearing her house colors.

Clarke had known she liked both boys and girls for a long time, she had harbored a couple of crushes on classmates and came out to her friends on her senior year of high school, however she had just decided to pursue art instead of medicine and felt like she had disappointed her mother enough to even consider coming out to them.

"She is not disappointed in you, Clarke, she is not sad or angry at you either, she is mad and disappointed at herself for having placed those expectations on you, we love you and support you." Jake had promised as he wrapped her in a comforting hug.

She got a small apartment with Octavia and Raven nearby campus; they had a great college in their city and had decided to stay there for it. For Clarke it meant being close to her parents, free laundry and homemade meals on the weekends as well as leftovers to last her through the week, for Raven whose mom was deep into alcoholism and Octavia who had lost her mother and never met her father, it meant free laundry and meals at the Griffin's on the weekends as well.

During her freshman year of college, Clarke had… "dated", a lot, it helped her realize the possibilities of her coming home to her parents with a girlfriend were as big as the chances of her bringing a boy, so she decided to come out to her parents.

It went a lot better than expected, Abby had been uncomfortable but on a rare daughter/mother heart to heart, she had confessed that it was because how she was raised and it had nothing to do with being disappointed in Clarke and how she loved her above all and she would love her with a girlfriend just as much as she would love her with a boyfriend as long as she was happy and safe.

Jake bought her a rainbow cake.

It opened a Pandora box that Clarke did not expect.

Alright comparing it with a Pandora box might be too much but she blamed her rare overdramatic moments on her father.

The first time it happened, was two weeks after she had come out, three months since she had last gone on a date and a year after her break up with Finn, her high school sweetheart that cheated on her.

The girl on the pic, a blonde woman around her age, wearing jeans a flannel shirt and a scarf, was on a magazine stand to pay for something. It was followed by a text;

‘How about her for a girlfriend?’

Clarke sent a string of texts that went from ‘omg dad what are you doing? Taking pictures of strangers is way too creepy.’ To ‘No dad, I'm more than capable of getting a girlfriend on my own’.

‘You are right... It'd be too much blonde for one pair, what's your type?’ Completely ignoring and disregarding everything Clarke had just said.

Two months later she had already deleted the picture of FIVE stranger girls from her phone. She had texted Abby, hoping the woman would talk some sense into her dad. That night there was a picture of a male intern with tanned skin, followed by a 'he is like Jackson Avery... wait do you still like Grey's anatomy?' And then ‘his sutures are beautiful, and he is very efficient for an intern.’ There was a pause, for a couple of minutes followed by three dots and then Abby saying that she sent male pictures not because she didn't approve of Clarke or was trying to erase her sexuality but because Jake send pictures of girls and as a bisexual, she liked both.

She went into their group chat titled “House Griffin”, Clarke had caught on it when his dad changed the title and had gone on a rant about house exclusion seeing as he was actually the only Gryffindor in the family but he had replied with an angel emoji and an ‘I don't know what you are talking about, is our last name after all. It's just a happy coincidence’, every week Clarke would change the title to something else and Jake would change it back, Abby didn't bother to get into the discussion anymore.

'You guys have to stop'

Jake had been the first one to reply ‘We're not getting any younger Clarke!!’. Followed by too many emojis for a middle-aged man. Her dad had fun speaking in emojis, it made him feel 'cool'.

Abby had just replied ‘I'm just leveling the playfield.’

Which prompted Jake to add ‘Abby we talked about this!! Clarke needs someone to treat her right, someone who would give her soft kisses and cuddle her and make her coffee and would understand her cramps pain and mood swings and wouldn't be afraid to go buy her tampons.’

Clarke had facepalmed and cringed down at her phone’s screen, she loved her parents, truly, she knew she was lucky to have them but still…

She could practically see her mother’s exasperated sigh and the roll of her eyes as she read her reply: ‘You are a man Jake and you did and still do all those things!’

Clarke smiled fondly, she knew that Jake’s flair for the dramatic was mostly because Abby was… Well, so uptight, most of the time, and for all her sighs and roll of her eyes, Clarke was well aware that they were always followed by a fond smile, she looked down as her phone vibrated with Jake’s reply ‘That's not the point Abby!! Besides, there're no guys like me, the mold was broken after me, the world wouldn't be able to handle the awesomeness of TWO Jake Griffins.’

‘Thank god!’ Clarke replied with a rolling eyes emoji ‘But seriously stop, I'm more than capable of getting girls AND boys on my own, I don't need my PARENTS help!!’

They didn't stop...

Abby was a busy woman; far more reserved than Jake, she mainly sent pictures of interns and residents. For every five pictures Jake sent to her, Abby send one and while his father would be like: ‘what about her?’ Or ‘girlfriend material or nah?' Abby would accompany the pictures with descriptions of the guys medical skills, one of the pictures was of a redheaded guy holding cradling a baby and then Abby had been so excited for the intern apparently had done a wonderful job in the delivery room the whole hospital was praising him and then made a vague comment about if things worked out how he could deliver their own baby, Clarke just turned off her phone, her mom was supposed to be the sane one. Jake was rubbing off on her.

A year and countless of pictures later, Clarke had resigned herself that her parents just wouldn't stop.

___________________

Jake Griffin wasn't a man of routine, sure after Clarke was born he had decided to go into teaching, and that had come with a routine, but it was worth it.

He could still remember the first time he saw her after Abby was done crushing his fingers and screaming his ear off. She was tiny, almost bald and as she settled on her mom's chest, she took hold of Jake's finger as he played with her fist and his eyes had filled with tears, he wasn't ashamed to shed, he had made her.

He had made her and she was his and his wife's but also her own. He had never been happier and thought he would never be that happy again, and while he had never been happier, it wasn't the first time he felt it.

It happened again the first time she smiled, the time she babbled 'dada' as he was trying to playfully teach her how to say coffee, the time she had proudly shown him a colorful messy and shapeless drawing that he put on the fridge encouraging her to keep it up, when he later found her smiling proudly as Jake inspected the crayon on the wall like it was a thousand dollar worth piece in a museum, and so many other times.

Abby hadn't been able to have any more kids after her, but it didn't matter to them because Clarke was perfect, and she was more than enough.

People always thought Jake and Clarke were more alike than the two Griffin women were, they couldn't see past Abby’s stern face, the woman had a difficult childhood, her family had always been more focused on achievements and appearances than love, yet Abby had managed to become an amazing woman and he was glad he had been able to get to know her, to get past the hard exterior to the loving amazing woman that no matter how tired she was, how late it was when she had gotten home, she would always wake up early to spent time with her child before school, the woman that even as her eyes were practically dropping would listen to every word Clarke said and always made sure Jake kept her up to date on what happened during her daughter's day.

Jake knew they butted heads so often because they were so similar, and that Clarke was more alike to the woman Abby would have been if she had more love and support than criticism growing up.

He wasn’t a man of routine, so here he was at a new cafe near campus, he had vowed to try them all to find the ultimate coffee, the best cup of coffee, but who knew there were so many and it seemed like a new one opened every other week, still it worked well with him, helped him step out the routine

"No, seriously Anya, I would rather be homeless or become a stripper than work for Titus." The girl in front of him on the line said catching his attention. She paused as she heard whatever the other person was saying on the phone and then chuckled.

"Fine I'd be a bad stripper, the point is I'd rather be a waitress or work at McDonald's rather than work for Titus, he is a xenophobic ignoramus and I'd rather sell an organ than my dignity. He probably voted for Trump, Anya" The girl huffed and Jake had to resist the urge to chuckle.

"They are my organs Anya, mine to sell, besides I would not sell that one, liver grows back, I'd sell some of it, wait until it grows back and then sell some more, I'd be set for life... Well, I don't know if that's how it works, I'm not a doctor. I'll figure something out, don't ask Indra or Gustus until there's no other option."

The girl was quiet once again until she let an indignant huff out.

"How dare you compare him to squids, Anya! Squids are majestic creatures and in no way xenophobic!" The girl paused to listen, moved to the counter and covered the bottom of her phone to place her order before moving down the counter to wait for her coffee and Jake didn't hear anything else as he ordered his.

When Jake was handed his coffee, he sat at the table in front of the one the girl was sitting, the girl pulled out a heavy-looking book and started reading, twirling her pen absentmindedly, Jake pulled out his phone and just as the girl turned to look out the window snapped a photo, she was lovely.

‘I found you a girlfriend.’ He sent to Clarke quickly going back to his home screen as he stood up.

He knew how it sounded, how it seemed, he could see why Clarke thought it was creepy but his intentions were good and Jake didn't really care what other people thought so he picked up his coffee and walked towards the girl.

"Excuse me." He greeted with a smile and the girl turned up to look at him, face stoic. "I'm professor Jake Griffin."

"Lexa Woods." The girl replied offering her hand which he shook, firm grip, well that was another point in her favor.

"I couldn't help but hear what you were saying over the phone and turns out a friend of mine is looking for a waitress at his restaurant." He thanked his luck that he had an actual reason to talk to the girl.

She had invited him to sit, at first he had been just talking about Kane's mom restaurant but then he found she was a Poli Sci major and planned to go to law school, they talked about law and politics, the girl was pretty and smart, and had a sense of humor, subtle and smart but it was there.

"I have a very important question." He said and the easy small smile that had been gracing the girl's lips was wiped from her face and she focused on Jake, he had to resist the urge to chuckle at that. "What's your Hogwarts' house?" The girl looked confused and shook her head with amusement.

"Hufflepuff and proud." She replied with a shrug and Jake laughed.

"Are you dating anyone?" He asked, too excited to pause and think how it sounded, and the girl's expression went from open and friendly to angry in less than a second.

"I'm flattered, sir." She said, her voice was dripping with venom. "But first of all, I'm very, very gay." Jake had to resist the urge to fist pump. "Second you could be my father and..." Jake cut her off before she could continue.

"No, wait, you see that's why I'm asking!" Jake said unlocking his phone. "I'm asking for my daughter! She is bisexual, and she is smart and kind and..." Lexa looked even more confused than when he had asked her about her house. "Single."

"Again..." She said, her tone a lot more tamed than before but still full of distrust. "I'm flattered but I'm not interested."

"Oh, come on, you haven't even seen a picture yet." Jake went to Clarke's Facebook and chose a random picture before shoving his cellphone almost right in Lexa's face.

"She is very pretty sir, beautiful," Lexa said as her eyes swept over the screen.

"Yes, yes, she is awesome and I'm not saying this just because I'm her father. She actually is!" Jake snatched the paper where he had written Mrs. Kane’s number and scrambled Clarke's above them. "Here's her number!" He said ad he slid the paper back towards her.

Lexa took the paper with a confused frown made some excuse about having to go and left...

Jake finished his coffee with a smile before he checked his phone for Clarke's reply.

___________________

'That awkward moment when a man pimps his daughter out to me.' Was Lexa's Facebook status as soon as she sat down, for her lesson.

By the end of it, she had a bunch of likes and comments the only ones she replied to were Anya's 'So you went from stripping and organ trafficking to prostitution?'  With a 'he was pimping his daughter TO me, if I don't have the money for rent how am I to afford a prostitute?' And Lincoln's 'even the universe knows you need to get laid' with the rolling eyes emoji.

___________________

Clarke stared at her phone, the girl... The girl was gorgeous and if she could look so good in a picture that was taken clearly unexpected, without her knowledge and without even facing the camera well… Clarke could only imagine what she would look like in person. She didn't blame her dad; hell, if she had been at that coffee shop she would have probably approached her.

‘...Thanks, dad’ there was no way to convey sarcasm through text but she was sure her dad got it.

Her dad didn't reply right away, and it had been a year, a year, of her parents, mostly her dad, sending her pictures of strangers so she did what most people did in dire situations...

She went to Facebook, after taking a screenshot of the conversation added a small description of how her dad had been doing that for a year and uploaded it with a huff, hoping that exposing his actions to the world, well her Facebook friends would get him to stop.

___________________

Octavia laughed as she saw Clarke's post, seriously she adored Jake Griffin, he was the dream dad, the one that made dad jokes and thought himself to be cool and could be utterly embarrassing but also the kind of man that no matter what got your back but as she smiled fondly at Jake's reply she focused on the picture above and frowned....

Wait a minute.

"Lincoln!!!" She shouted, and the man came running out from the kitchen where he had been preparing lunch.

"What's wrong?" He asked, and Octavia had the grace to give him an apologetic smile before giving him her phone.

"Does that girl look familiar?" She asked.

They had been dating for a couple of months after meeting at the gym, three months to be exact and while Lincoln knew her friends and she knew his, they had yet to mix circles, but she got all the confirmation she needed when Lincoln burst out laughing.

"Oh my God." He said when he stopped enough to breathe before laughing again. "That's Lexa!" He exclaimed as he laughed again clutching at his stomach.

___________________

'What do you mean you have no rent or prostitute money? You should always have prostitute money!' Was the comment Gustus had left on her Facebook post and the emoji laughing with tears in its eyes. She didn't get the chance to do much else as the Facebook message bubble showed her Gustus had sent her a message that became three by the time she opened it.

'I rejected the job; the boss was awful... I'm looking for jobs even if I have to waiter.' Lexa had simply responded, Titus was a lawyer and he was known to offer jobs to students with recommendations even if it was as glorified errand boys or girls.

'No, if you need money I'll give it to you, you should focus on school Alexandria.' Lexa sighed; she hated taking things from others even if it was family.

She was supposed to be an adult now.

‘Lincoln Oaks has tagged you in one of his comments.’ She frowned and decided to drop by to speak to Gustus face to face instead and checked what Lincoln had said.

Lexa blinked several times as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing, that was her picture on a stranger’s phone, she read the comments and finally, it clicked after seeing Jake's Griffin name.

She had been tagged on the post so the least she could do was say something, right? But what could she even say?

'Well... This is weird...' 

Not her finest or most eloquent comment but what else could she do?

She decided to sort of stalk -She needed to know what kind of person was the owner of a timeline that now featured her picture on it - the girl's Facebook.

___________________

'Jake Griffin and Lexa Woods are now friends.' Clarke stared at her phone blinking several times before she got a notification of a Facebook status update from him with just 'FATE' on it. Seriously? She huffed.

'This is all your fault!' She typed, furiously, in their family’s group chat and she was so pissed that there was no way to convey anger through text except for cute emojis or capital letters 'She probably thinks I'm a creep!'

‘Oi, I didn't tell you to share it with the world.’ Jake replied and added a couple of mused emojis, followed by a ‘and stop being dramatic, I gave her your number!’

Clarke had read her father’s reply a couple of times before replying ‘What? That's even worse!’

___________________

Jake Griffin stared at his phone with delight written all over his features, this was fate, how could it not? He had quickly added Lexa as friends and sent her a quick message, apologizing for snapping a picture without her knowledge and if they had made her feel uncomfortable, he had then told her how he had started doing that to reassure Clarke that they accepted her and love her as she was. BISEXUAL, all in caps and then apologized for it, my phone screen is been acting up lately, he had excused.

Never in his life had he felt less of a Gryffindor and more of a Slytherin but damn it felt good.

He had obviously wasted his time as an engineer and a professor. His true talent was matchmaking.

Lexa took a while to reply so Jake went back to his conversation with Clarke, she had approved of the picture at least.

'Clarke! She is the prettiest girl I've ever seen after your mom and you of course... Just think of how adorable my grandchildren would be!' He loved teasing his daughter, embarrassing his daughter was one of the best things about fatherhood and chuckled as he read Clarke’s replies.

'Dad!!!!!!!!!!'
'First of all, do you realize how bad that sounds?'
'Second, you are married to a DOCTOR, I'm sure you know a kid with both our genes is impossible!'

'Well, you are right... your mom IS a doctor, I'm an engineer, we'll bring in those genius friends of yours Raven and Monty and I'm sure we can work something out.' He replied and shrugged even though he knew neither his wife nor Clarke could see it.

‘Dad!! You are NOT designing our children!'
'MY children, damnit'

Jake smirked, check.

'Fine, one of you has the first batch and the other has the next one.'

'Batches????' And he could clearly see in his mind his daughter’s face with a blush, puffed cheeks and the frown of her brows.

His smirk widened, operation Clarke & Lexa...

No

Operation Clexa was a go.

___________________

Jake was not a man of routine but for the following week he went to the same cafe for his caffeine fix, he had been disappointed but not discouraged (they were Facebook friends after all) when Lexa didn't show up, but on Friday, he walked in to find Lexa already sitting on the same table with a book opened in front of her, he smirked and ordered his coffee before walking towards her.

"Hey, Lexa... What a coincidence." The girl looked up and regarded him with a wary look. "Mind if I sit?" The girl waved her hand in a go-ahead motion and Jake sat. "Do you come here often?"

"I have a free period at this time on Fridays, so I like to come and study in between classes, close enough to campus and the walk through the park is nice."

"Ah, yes, I have two hours in between classes today and teaching is just as hard as being a student, so I need my caffeine fix in between or risk becoming one of those grumpy teachers, you kids complain about." Lexa smiled a little more at ease, especially as Jake asked about what she was studying, and the girl went on a passionate rant about environmental laws.

The hour passed quickly, and Jake already had a plan by the time he made it back to campus an hour later.

'Has she called yet?' He asked Clarke.

Laundry Washer: 'no dad and she never will because she probably thinks we are creeps! Besides I'm a strong independent woman who no needs no man OR woman.'

'Oh I know honey but I'm not getting any younger and you are my ONLY child is your duty to fill this house with grandkids, if you start soon enough I'll be able to even be a great grandfather!' He didn't really care about it, he joked about it because Clarke's reactions amused him, but he would be just as happy if Clarke decided she never wanted to get marry or have children or if she wanted to adopt 20 cats or dogs.

‘The longer she takes to call, the more points she loses.' Jake added; 'I read somewhere Gryffindors are most compatible with Ravenclaws, while Hufflepuff and Slytherins make the best couples... She is a Hufflepuff Clarke! #meanttobe.’

Laundry Washer: ‘Dad, please... #stop.’

___________________

Next Friday Lexa waved at him and smiled as he walked into the coffee shop and he politely asked if he could sit, they talked about his classes and he commented on her teachers, the ones he knew at least, but Jake kept a careful watch on the time and when it was approaching to the time for Lexa to leave he stood up instead and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry I need to grade some papers before my next class and I need to prepare for it, tissues for either tears of laughter or pain at some of the answers… Listen, my wife is really embarrassed over the whole thing about the picture and Facebook and apparently me been embarrassing." He huffed and rolled his eyes as if offended and the girl chuckled. "She would like to invite you over to dinner tomorrow if you are free, 7 would be fine, this is our address if you decide to show up, no pressure, we understand if you don’t want to, we are really sorry." He gave her a shy smile and looked down before taking a deep breath and walked out of the cafe, his expression shifting from sheepish to a smirk.

'Griffin dinner tomorrow, I want you there before 7, I'm making your favorite and if you don't show up, Octavia will take your place as my #1.' He sent to Clarke... Now he just needed to tell Abby.

'Hey, love!! I hope you are having a nice day and saving tons of lives like the superhero you are, family dinner tomorrow @ 7, I'm cooking and bringing a friend. I love you!'

___________________

"Anya, do you think I should go? What if I end up kidnapped and murdered?" Lexa asked with a frown and Anya rolled her eyes as she picked up a slice of pizza.

"You saw his wife's Facebook, she’s real." Any shrugged.

"But! What if she's not, what if it's a fake profile he made to go with his plots of murder!"

"You saw his daughter's Facebook as well and she is friends with Linc's girlfriend." Anya's attention was back on the TV and Lexa sighed.

She had texted Lincoln who reassured her the Griffins were very real and Octavia had nothing but good things to say about them all.

So, there she was, standing in front of the door with a bottle of cheap but sweet and tasty enough wine, squirming as she took deep breaths to center herself before raising her hand to knock on the door.

___________________

'Wear something nice, I'm bringing a friend.' In retrospect, Clarke should have suspected, her dad never sent that kind of vague texts, but she had been working her ass off all week with an assignment, she had shared a few drinks with her roommates while watching Netflix and she had gotten up at around noon, lazing off until 2 pm and she was in no state of mind to suspect her dad.

It was almost seven and her dad was smiling and dancing and singing badly while cooking, Abby was on chopping duty and Clarke was setting the table. As she arranged the fourth place she walked back into the kitchen.

"So dad who’s your friend?" Jake turned back from the stove, smirked, fucking smirked at her and said:

"Oh, the girl I send you the photo of, Lexa." And as if her life didn’t already resemble some rom-com plot the bell rang. "Oh, she's here!" Jake exclaimed skipping, fucking skipping towards the door. "Hello, Lexa!" He said opening the door wide and ushering the girl in with a smile.

"This is my wife Abby... And my daughter Clarke, I showed you her pic remember?" Jake’s smile only grew as he turned back to the girl. "And I'm Jake... as you already know but you may call me future father in law or dad for short...."