A/N: Did not mean to let this story go so long. I've just been really stuck on this chapter. Might be doing some time jumps in the upcoming chapter because there's still some points I want to hit before this story ends.
Also been getting back into Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Fuffy fanfics. Wish I would have added some indication of time on this story like I did my old Fuffy. Maybe I'll go back and add that at some point.
Thank you all for sticking with me this far.
Chapter 48
Lexa woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. The night before had been so much fun. She'd gotten to learn a lot more about Clarke through her reminiscing with Octavia. Plus she'd been able to be reacquainted with an old friend of her own.
Lincoln had been put in the back of her mind for so many years. She'd occasionally wonder what happened to him, but then life would go on and he'd disappear from her thoughts for a while. They had been good friends once upon a time, so he had never been completely gone from her thoughts.
One of the best outcomes that came from the previous night was getting to invite Lincoln, and Octavia of course, to their wedding that was slowly creeping up on them. It wouldn't be a big event. Neither woman wanted that. They might have to make a few more additions to the guest list, but she'd broach that subject with Clarke later.
Today they had planned to have a family day with Avery, and Tommy. Lexa had actually surprised herself when she'd spontaneously invited the young boy to come with them. It had felt right in the moment, and she could admit she was looking forward to spending some time with him as well.
She grabbed her phone off the nightstand to see what time it was. It wasn't often she woke up before Clarke, almost never actually, so she was surprised to see it was just after seven. She felt Clarke try to wiggle closer to her so she knew it wouldn't be long before the other woman woke up. She smiled down at her resting on her chest and ran a hand through the blond hair. "Clarke," she whispered. "Wake up, sweetheart."
"Don't wanna," Clarke mumbled and wiggled even closer.
Lexa chuckled. "Unfortunately, we have two children that will probably be up soon because they want to know what their surprise is."
"Two?"
That made Lexa laugh harder. Clarke clearly wasn't fully awake yet. "Yes, Tommy spent the night, remember?"
It had been decided to let Tommy spend the night to make it easier on everyone. They kids had already been half asleep by the time the adults had decided to call it a night. Ever the over prepared parent, Trish had packed an extra set of clothes, so it just made sense. They put up an air mattress in Avery's room so that hopefully Tommy wouldn't be confused in the morning.
Clarke finally opened her eyes and looked up at Lexa. "Good morning," she husked as she leaned up for a kiss. "Mmm, so nice to wake up together."
"Definitely," Lexa agreed. With Clarke's previous work schedule, they rarely got up at the same time. That would be changing once she started her new job. They'd need to be up at roughly the same time. Plus, they'd get more days off together, which Lexa was very much looking forward to.
"I think I hear little feet," Clarke whispered.
Lexa turned toward the door and sure enough she heard some very light steps just outside their room. They both watched as the door creaked open and a little brunette head popped around it. "Aunt Clarke, Aunt Lexa?" he attempted to whisper but was not successful at being quiet.
Clarke smiled at Lexa and then looked over at the boy. "Good morning, buddy."
Upon hearing the greeting, the six-year-old opened the door all the way and trotted inside. He stopped next to Lexa's side of the bed. "When we get the surprise?"
Lexa grabbed him and pulled him on the bed with them before he had time to react. She started tickling him, making him squeal. "How about that surprise, you monkey."
"No fair, Aunt Lexa," he protested around his laughter.
Clarke watched the two with a large smile on her face. She couldn't help but imagine Lexa doing the same with their own child. Seeing Lexa not only become a mother to Avery, but an aunt to Tommy has been one of her favorite things. The two had bonded other the last few weeks especially.
Tommy flopped down on Lexa's chest once she let up. She held him to her and placed a kiss on the top of his head. "Did you sleep good, bud?" He nodded his head. "Was Avery still sleeping?" Another nod.
Clarke watched the two for a minute before climbing out of bed. "I'll go start breakfast," she told them, giving them each a kiss to the cheek. "Why don't you too get dressed in the meantime."
An hour later everyone had been fed and dressed for the day. They piled into Clarke's SUV and off they went. Both children were still unaware of where they were going. When they pulled into the parking lot of their destination, Tommy let out and yell. "The Zoo!"
Lexa and Clarke exchanged a smirk. Not the most original way of spending the day, but Avery had always loved the zoo. She wasn't surprised that Tommy was excited either. The foursome all climbed out of the car and Lexa went around to the back to grab the backpack they'd packed for the day.
"All right you rugrats, let's get some sunscreen on before we head in." Clarke told the two children as she grabbed the bottle from the pack. Tommy tried to take off for the gate, but Lexa picked him up and stood him up on the tailgate that was still open. She helped slather him up while Clarke did the same with Avery. Then the two made sure they were also covered.
Lexa pulled her hair through a ball cap and settled it on her head. Not wanting to be different from his new idle, Tommy grabbed his from where he'd left it in his booster seat. Avery and Clarke grabbed theirs they'd gotten in D.C. as well, but Lexa already knew they wouldn't last the whole day on their heads. Both Griffins would complain about itchy heads after a couple of hours.
"What are the rules?" Clarke asked Tommy. She knew Trish made him repeat the rules anytime they went somewhere that had lots of people.
"Don't run away, make sure I can always see you. Don't talk to strangers. Don't take presents from strangers. Yell if anyone tries to grab me."
Clarke stifled a laugh at the disgruntled way Tommy recited each rule. You could tell he'd had to repeat them one to many times and was over it. Still, one could never be too careful. "Good. Also, I want you to hold mine or Lexa's hand when we're walking so you don't get lost. You can let go when we're at an exhibit. Deal?" The little boy gave a nod.
"Alright, let's go then." She waved her hands towards the gate. She wasn't surprised to see Tommy grab Lexa's hand instead of her own and pulled her along. Clarke wrapped an arm around Avery's shoulder and pulled her daughter along behind the other two.
They started off with the monkey house and made their way through several other exhibits before taking a break from walking in front of the penguins. Lexa put her hands down at her side and started waddling in front of the two kids, earning giggles from the both of them.
"What? Aren't I doing this right?"
"You're silly," Avery told her.
"I'll show you silly." Lexa pulled Avery up from the bench and held her to her chest and tickled her side. Avery squealed and squirmed but made no real attempt to get away.
"Alright hooligans," Clarke interrupted after a few minutes. "Why don't we head to the Café and get some lunch? Are you all hungry?"
"I'm hungry, Aunt Clarke," Tommy answered, rubbing his stomach.
Tommy ended up riding on Lexa's back as they pushed their way through hordes of people. "What do you want, Tommy?" Lexa asked once they were in line.
"Burger!"
"Is that all?" she laughed.
"Fries?"
"Definitely. Can't have a burger without some fries," Lexa agreed. "How about a drink?"
"Can I have soda?"
Lexa looked at Clarke because she wasn't sure on that one. "You can have a sprite," Clarke answered for her. "But you need to drink some water too. It's very hot today."
"Okay."
"How about you Avery?" Clarke followed up.
"Pizza, please."
"Are you guys having fun?" Clarke asked once they were sitting down. She got a nod from both children who were to busy stuffing their faces. "What's been your favorite animal today?"
"The tigers were really pretty," Avery answered. Clarke had to agree. She loved to watch them. The zoo even had a white bangle which was definitely one of her favorite animals to look at.
"The chimps were funny," Tommy added.
Ruffling Tommy's hair, "reminds me of a little boy I know," Lexa said.
"Mommy always says I'm a monkey," Tommy agreed as he tried to fix his hair. "How come she didn't come with us?"
Clarke heard the bit of sadness in the boy's voice. "We wanted you to spend the day with us. Don't you like hanging out with us?"
Tommy shrugged as he took two fries and stuffed them in his mouth. "Sissy always around with mommy now."
Ah, there it was. Tommy was missing his one-on-one time with his mother. Wasn't surprising thought. It was now starting to sink in that his life was different now.
Clarke shot off a quick text to Trish letting her know what was going on. "How about after lunch, we ride the train?" she asked, trying to get his mind off things.
Each car on the train had two seats, with one of them facing the back of the train. Lexa and Clarke decided to sit together so that both children could face forwards. After the train they made their way towards the petting zoo, which Lexa seemed to enjoy more than any of them. Clarke took so many pictures of her fiancé surrounded by baby goats and looking very content.
Clarke was just trying to take a picture of Avery and Tommy trying to feed the goat that kept following them around when the little boy let out a squeal.
"Mommy," Tommy screamed, before running towards the gate that led out of the petting area.
The two women had purposely taken their time in the petting zoo so it would be easy for Trish to find them. Having not touched any of the animals, Clarke walked over and took Layla from Trish's arms so the other woman could greet her son.
For the rest of the afternoon, Clarke held onto the baby, only releasing her to Lexa when necessary, so that Trish could focus on her son. They had a stroller, but why use it when there were two aunties who wanted to spoil the babe.
"Look, Layla, a giraffe," Clarke pointed towards the animal, but the baby's eyes stayed Clarke before closing and letting out a cute little sigh. "Ah, not impressed, I get it."
By the time the group was ready to call it quits, it was almost dinner time. They agreed to meet up at a diner just down the street. Tommy deciding to ride with is mom. Neither kid had a whole lot of energy left by the time their food arrived and only managed to eat about half.
"If you want us to baby-sit Layla some time so you can do something with Tommy, just let us know," Clarke offered while the adults stood talking in the parking lot. The children were already in their seats. "We'd loved to have her."
"A little practice?" Trish teased. Clarke didn't even bother trying to shut her up this time. She and Lexa were already on the same page about more kids soon.
"Maybe, but also serious," Clarke answered.
"I know. And I'll think about it," Trish looks inside the car to see both of her kids falling asleep. "I've been worried he'd get jealous, guess it finally happened."
Clarke gave her a hug, "He'll be fine. Just needs time to adjust."
Trish nodded as she let go of their hug. "Talk to you later?"
"Of course. Have a good night."
Once they were finally on their way home, Lexa turned in her seat so she could look back at Avery. "Did you have a good day?"
"Yes."
"Good, glad you did your homework now?" Lexa couldn't help but tease. "Tomorrow you can sleep in and do whatever you want."
"Will you swim with me tomorrow?"
"If that's what you want, then I think that can be arranged," Lexa agreed. Avery had definitely started spending more time in the pool since Lexa moved in. Of course, the latter was always up for hanging out with Avery. And she still wasn't quite used to California weather so a nice day in the pool always sounded good to her.
As Clarke and Lexa climbed into bed that night, Lexa remarked, "Today was a good day." She turned so she was facing the blonde, who did the same in turn.
"It was. Hopefully now we can have more days like that." Clarke was looking forward to her new job on Monday because it meant a steady schedule. The clinic was open on Saturdays, but not Sundays, so she'd at least have that day off every week. Lexa didn't typically work the weekends unless they were on a case, leaving a lot more family time.
"We will. Today was good practice."
Clarke laughed, reminded of Trish's earlier comment. She was so happy that Lexa was so openly talking about a bigger family though. "Come here you," she growled. For the rest of the night, she let her body do the talking.
