DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All rights to The 100 creators.
Chapter 25
Don't Be Afraid
December 25th (1 week later)…
It was 7:35pm when the call arrived to the Woods household. Octavia answered it and moved to the kitchen while Lincoln sat with the kids who picked at pizza but mainly shoved it around their plates in the living room.
Clarke was on the other end, the sound of crying evident in her tone but non-the less she tried to speak calmly for Octavia's sake.
"It's time, O. The doctor said the kids should come say goodbye before she falls asleep."
Octavia was at a lose for words, her throat swollen with the thought of this being her sister's last few hours alive. "I'll get them down there as soon as possible." She managed to reply, hanging up and placing the phone on the counter robotically while silent tears poured from her eyes.
She would no longer have her sister around. The first person to truly love her would be leaving this world and she wasn't ready to face that reality yet. Worse of all, she had to watch those five kids say goodbye for the last time.
She knew she had to be brave for them so she wiped her cheeks and sniffled back her sadness before returning to the kids and her husband.
"We've got to go back to the hospital kids. Your mama wants you to say goodnight to her, she misses you all a lot." Earlier that day the family was at the hospital celebrating Christmas. An hour after they left Lexa got a fever and grew weaker.
The twins caught on instantly and seemed to freeze, while the younger ones seemed to believe that this wasn't the last time they'd see Lexa.
The group drove to the hospital in the van, Jude convincing his aunt and uncle into letting him take the dog as well whom he was sure would make his mama happy to see.
When they arrived they all sat in the hallway, some on chairs, others on the floor while Octavia went in first.
"Hey, guys." The brunette greeted, smiling weakly at her pale sister and the blonde next to her.
"O." Lexa said happily, her voice hoarse with exhaustion. The sister ran over instantly, her tears falling as she sobbed and bent over to hug Lexa.
"Please don't leave me." She begged, shaking as she attempted to calm down.
"I'm not going anywhere, Octavia. I'm right here." The woman replied, Clarke reaching over to help Octavia sit beside Lexa's hip before she left to greet her kids.
"You've always been the bravest of the two of us." Octavia said as she wiped under her eyes.
"You are braver than you're giving yourself credit for." Lexa replied, reaching up to wipe her sister's cheek. "We've had some rough patches in life, but look at where we are now. We're both happy, O. You are so happy."
This earned a slight laugh through Octavia's tears.
"Please keep my family smiling. They need you and Lincoln. You guys have made us all so much better just by existing and being there."
"I love you, Lex." Octavia cried harder as she leant forward and placed a kiss on Lexa's forehead, hugging her once more until she managed to calm herself enough to face the outside group.
Once Octavia left Clarke brought in Indie and Finlay, both of whom were over the moon to see their mama once again.
"Ama!" Indie exclaimed, grasping out for her mama and giggling when she finally touched the woman on the bed.
"Hi, my babies. Look at those Christmas pajamas." She said proudly. Reaching out to tuck some of Finaly's curls from his face. She loved those curls so much.
"When are you coming home, mama?" Finlay asked, playing with her fingers as he spoke.
"When I'm better, baby." Lexa replied weakly, knowing very well that it wasn't entirely true what she just told her son. "Hey, do you guys know how much I love you?" Indie squealed and opened her arms wide to show how much her mama loved her.
"Dis much." She said proudly, making Lexa laugh.
"Yeah, rascal. That much. You two are the funniest, kindest little souls I have ever met. Can I get some kisses before you go home to bed?" She asked, the kids gently giving her a kiss before being helped off the bed.
"Love you, mama." Finlay said as he waved, telling Indie to do the same.
"Ove, Ama!"
With that Clarke brought them out and brought in Jude right after, Zorro eager to see his owner.
"Look at my boys."
"Hi, Mama." Jude placed a kiss on his mom's cheek while Zorro curled up by her feet, much to her amusement.
"You were the first kid that your mom and I met, and you came into this world crying. I don't want to leave it seeing you cry again. Can you try to do that for me?"
Jude's eyes instantly flooded with tears as he crumbled into the chair behind him. "I'm not ready for you to go, mama." He said, shaking his head.
"I'm not leaving, Jude. At least I'm not trying to. You know I would fight for you and your siblings and your mom. You guys are my whole world." She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Sometimes we can fight and fight and in the end we may not win, but that doesn't mean we didn't try. I want you to try and give your all in everything you do, Jude. You have to promise me that you are going to go through life and be able to look at your mistakes and say, I may not have gotten that one, but I went down fighting. That's all that'll ever matter."
It took a moment for the boy to nod before he wiped his tears and hugged his mama close, trying to remember how it felt being held by her again before it was Sophie's turn.
The brunette came in already sobbing, reaching for Lexa much like she did when she was little.
"Hi, Princess."
"Do I have to say goodbye?" Her daughter asked in a croak.
"No, but I do want to tell you something." Lexa carefully brushed away some of Sophie's messy hair. "You know how when you were sick and I would stay home with you from school? We'd watch a bunch of sappy romance movies. You always said to me, mama I want someone to love me that much one day. But I don't just want you to find someone who loves you so deeply and so powerfully even the earth stops spinning, I want you to share your love because you, my beautiful baby girl, you love with no limits. You only see a person and nothing more. You are so special in that sense because the world needs more people like you. It needs more people who can love and be loved." This broke both of the them, creating tears to fall quickly from both eyes.
"I'll never love anyone more than I love you, mama." Sophie croaked out, closing her eyes as her mama wiped her cheeks. She would do anything to stay by her side forever, but Lexa was getting tired and Rowen was next to say goodnight.
"Hi, fishy."
"Mama, why's everyone crying?" The blonde asked as she sat beside her mama and enjoyed the feel of the woman's fingers brushing over her blonde locks.
"They're just a little sad, waterbug. You know, every time I went to watch your meets I felt like the proudest person on the planet. You have so much potential, Rowen. You were born to be great and to do amazing things. I can't wait to see you win gold in the Olympics one day."
"You really think I'll make it?" The blonde asked, a smiling taking over her face.
"You can do anything, and I will be right beside you, cheering you on even if you can't hear me. You are meant to be amazing, I knew that from the moment I laid my eyes on you."
"You're the most amazing person though, mama."
"Not as much as you." The mother playfully bantered back, thankfully earning a laugh and more smiles from her girl before it was Willow's turn.
The girl entered with her arms around herself and sobs consuming her.
"If you're going to say goodbye, I really don't want to hear it." She warned as she stood by the door. She was scared and Lexa could tell.
"I'm not saying goodbye, ladybug. Come sit with me. I miss you." The woman offered her hand and Willow froze a moment before approaching and taking the extended hand.
"Please don't leave me, mama." The young girl pleaded.
"You know what I see when I look at you, Will?" The girl shook her head. "I see a person who worries because she doesn't want anyone else to have to fear anything. I see a little girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she carries it proudly. I see my baby, looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes that have nothing but love and wisdom in them. Willow, I don't want you to ever think anything less of yourself. You are extraordinary in all you do, and you can think differently for however long you want, but one day you will see just how special you are and I hope that you will give this world the privilege of meeting that person. You are my sunshine. You are my ladybug. You are everything that makes this world beautiful."
"Why is this so hard?" The younger girl asked as she rested next to her mother for a moment.
"I don't know, ladybug. But I do know that I love you more than the stars and moon and I can't wait to see what amazing things you do one day."
~.~.~
It was close to 9pm when the group left, Zorro refusing to leave the foot of the bed until Lincoln finally carried him out despite the angry growls he received.
The blonde was lying next to her wife, the brunette resting her head over her love's chest as she listened to the gentle thump of her heart.
"You are the greatest thing in my life, Clarke."
"I thought the kids were." The blonde replied, playing with a curl that was on her chest before stroking the mane of hair surrounding her once again.
"You're the reason I have them. But you, my beautiful, brave wife… I don't know where I would be without you."
Clarke chewed her lip as she swallowed back her tears. There had been far too many tears these past few days. She wanted this moment with her wife to be one to remember.
"Remember when the twins were two and I brought them to visit you at work while they were dressed in mini police uniforms?"
Lexa laughed lightly at the memory, "We have all those pictures of them in my cruiser with their little badges showing and everything."
"All the kids wanted to be like you at some point. Their mama who went out to protect the world from the bad guys. I can see the appeal." Clarke said, smiling fondly.
"They're going to do great things one day."
"I wish you'd be by my side through it all." Clarke whispered.
"I will be. Somehow." Lexa glanced up and locked her green eyes with the blue eyes of her wife. "You're so beautiful."
"Always a charmer." The blonde replied, taking a moment to draw her finger over her wife's face. "I want to draw you."
"You haven't done that in a while." Lexa said with slight amusement.
"I sketched the kids all the time."
"And before them, I was your muse."
"How could you not be? Everything about you is amazing."
Lexa's eyes drooped slightly as she became sleepier. However, she refused to fall asleep because the sight of her wife was too hard to let go of.
"I love you so much, baby." The blonde said, leaning forward to place a kiss on her wife's lips.
"I love you, too." Lexa replied between kisses, ignoring the pain in her chest as her breathing grew labored and her heart began to slow. "Don't be afraid."
When they both rested the time came, the line on the heart monitor switched patterns and signified the new life that came when a doctor would come in to check on the noise.
Hey... So I'm going to post Chapter 26 right after this so then you don't kill me. I think you'd really like it if you read it so please don't stop reading just yet.
Remember who's side I'm on.
-Valentina