A/N Hey sorry for the delay of updates. Been super crazy at my house for the last week. My muse took a slight vaca as well but here is a super sad chapter with a sweet ending. Enjoy!
Clarke
Her mother's engagement party is inching closer every day and before long, Clarke is staring at the pale pink, prom-like dress in her closet and dreading having to wear it the following night. Clarke sighs loudly and closes the door of her closet before grabbing her hospital bag from the floor and heading out the door of her apartment, to work. She's leaving early so she can spend a bit more time with Maria before her shift.
When she opens the door to Maria's room, Clarke stops short at the dark-haired man sitting in the chair next to her friend's bed, holding a tiny baby.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She mutters quickly as she tries to back out of the room again, but the man stops her.
"Wait. You must be Clarke." He says with a thick French accent and Clarke looks at him in surprise, her hand still on the door handle.
"Um, yes." She says dumbly and the man with warm, sad eyes rises from his chair careful not to disturb the sleeping infant in his arms as he approaches her.
"You are the one who draws the pictures of Maria and leaves them on the little table beside her bed. I am Antione, Maria's husband."
Clarke is so shocked that he knows who she is, that she just stares awkwardly as he speaks.
"I have been collecting your drawings and placing them into the baby book that Maria started for our son."
Clarke places a hand over her heart as her eyes tear up with emotion and she looks down at the tiny, sleeping baby that she helped save.
"I thought the cleaning staff were just throwing them away with the wilted flowers. I never really intended for anyone to keep them."
Antione looks down at his son and tries to smile through his tears.
"I think they are beautiful and capture Maria in a way that I thought only I saw her. I want Joseph to have a memory of her that he can keep with him."
Clarke doesn't even try to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks as she slides her bag off her shoulder and to the floor.
"May I draw him in his mother's arms?" She asks suddenly, surprising even herself and Antione doesn't seem to be able to form the words to say yes and simply nods as he steps back to let Clarke further into the room. With his face screwed up as he blinks away the tears, Antione gently places tiny Joseph on his tummy, on Maria's chest, beside her breathing tube.
He fusses a bit, but his father raises Maria's hand and puts one of her fingers into the baby's tiny hand, calming him.
Clarke can barely see through the tears in her eyes as she sits and pulls her sketchbook and pencils out to capture the heart-breaking moment. She and Antione sit in silence as Clarke's pencil glides across the page. By the time she is finished, Joseph is starting to stir and nuzzle around for food and Antione stands to retrieve the little person.
Clarke lets out a long breath and looks down at the sketch in her hands. She stares at it for a few moments before carefully tearing the page from her book and standing to offer it to Antione as he bounces Joseph on his shoulder. He takes the paper and their tears start anew as he reaches out and gives Clarke a shaky one-armed hug.
"Thank you." Is all he says and Clarke nods as she stoops to retrieve her bag and walks out of the room, pausing only to take one last glance at the scene of Maria and her little family.
Clarke is on the verge of being late for work but stops by the security office anyway. Bellamy is sitting in his chair, laughing at something Bill said until he spots Clarke in the doorway and jumps out of his seat, relaxed grin immediately replaced by a worried frown. He grips Clarke's upper arms and arches backwards to look at her face.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
Clarke lurches forward and presses her wet face into Bellamy's chest as his arms go tightly around her. She tries to explain but is fairly sure he only gets every few words through her sobbing. Finally, Clarke pulls herself together and looks up into Bellamy's face as she swipes at her wet face with her sleeve.
"Sorry. I have to get downstairs to the ER. I'll explain better later, okay?"
Bellamy nods a bit unsurely but lets her back away towards the stairs.
"Later." He agrees.
Later ends up being a long, tearful explanation while snuggled up together on his bed, eating reheated sweet and sour chicken and rice. Bellamy holds Clarke and they let the sadness take hold for a while as they both shed wordless tears until they fall asleep.
The next day Clarke is pulled into her Mother's web of preparations for the engagement party.
The wedding planner, Sofia is almost as annoying as Abby and Clarke keeps shadowing Rosita through the house as she tries to avoid, what she has started calling, the wedding dictators.
The party will be under a massive tent in her Mother's backyard and Clarke peeks out the kitchen window to see over-sized floral arrangements and high quality speakers being put into place at Sofia's behest.
"Is that a chandelier?" Clarke asks Rosita in a disbelieving tone and the older woman joins her at the window.
"That is a crystal chandelier, poppit." She corrects and Clarke smirks as they share a look and turn back to arranging the fancy appetizers on trays and covering them with plastic wrap.
Clarke leans her arms on the counter and snatches one of the fancy edibles to pop in her mouth, earning a foul look from Rosita, that is immediately softened with a smile.
"So, I'm bringing someone tonight." Clarke says, suddenly nervous as Rosita's eyebrow rises and her mouth quirks knowingly. Clarke blushes and ducks her head before explaining.
"It was pointed out to me that I was whining about my mother not telling me about Marcus, while I was doing the same thing, not telling her about Bellamy."
Rosita rests a hip against the counter and thinks for a moment.
"Bellamy? Is that not your friend's brother? Not a common name." She comments, and Clarke stands straight with a surprised expression.
"I can't believe you remember that."
Rosita smiles as she swipes a tiny appetizer off the tray, takes a bite and chuckles.
"He brought you home a few times in high school. I talked to him once or twice after you had gone inside. He seemed like a very nice boy. I'm betting he grew up handsome as well."
Clarke can feel herself blush again and Rosita nods in approval before wiping her hands on her apron and turning back to preparing the food.
"I thought you looked happier, poppit."
Clarke smiles at Rosita's words and then thinks on them a bit more, her smile widening.
"I am happy."
With that thought, Clarke feels ready to take on her Mother and walks out into the fray of engagement party chaos.