Chapter 6

Clarke and Abby both fell into silence as they each got lost in their own grief. Neither could believe fate could be cruel enough to take Jake away in such a heinous act. Jake Griffin was one of the most laid back and kindhearted men you could ever meet.

Clarke had told her father first when she realized she was pregnant. She knew he was probably disappointed in her, but he never let it show. Instead he held her while she cried, disappointed in herself enough for the both of them.

Clarke wiped the tears from her eyes as she sat up. She grabbed a tissue off the bedside table and wiped under her eyes before grabbing a second one and blowing her nose. They could both sit there crying for hours if they let themselves, but they couldn't do it. "I can't believe he's gone. I just talked to him the day before this all happened."

She'd called her parent's house in the short break she had between surgeries that day. Her mom had been at work and Avery had been at a friend's house so it was one of the few phone calls where they hadn't played hot potato with the phone. He'd told her one of his corny stories that made her laugh. She'd gone into her next surgery that day feeling happy.

"I um…" For possibly the first time in her life, Abby was speechless. She couldn't even contemplate that her husband was dead. Another part of her though could feel it in her heart. She wasn't sure if she believed in an afterlife but it was almost like there was a memory of him visiting her in her sleep. Like he'd reassured her that everything was okay.

"The officer said he'd died a hero. That a lot more people might have been injured or killed. He'd be happy to know that."

"He would," Abby agreed. There was a peace in knowing that he'd died protecting others. It was something he was always happy to do. To stand up for the little guy. It would be a long time before she'd accept he was gone and be over the pain, but she was still alive. At least they hadn't both left their daughter and granddaughter.

"Where's Avery?" Abby asked, when she noticed for the first time that the little girl wasn't in the room with them.

"I left her at home. She was here all day yesterday, I didn't want to make her sit around the hospital all day again. Plus, I've been here since not long after seven."

Clarke didn't need to explain any further. Avery would have still been in bed if she didn't have to get up for school. She loved her sleep, even as a toddler. She was probably one of the few kids you never had to convince to take a nap. Unless of course her mother was home and playing with her, then she wasn't so happy.

"Mrs. Kane with her then?"

"No, actually, Lexa stayed home with her." She wasn't sure how her mother would feel about that. She'd talked about Lexa with both her parents, not as much as she had with Avery, but enough that they knew she was in a serious relationship with her.

"I'm going to finally get to meet this girl that you haven't been able to shut up about, huh?" Abby teased. "She must be special to have flown out with you."

"She is. She's the one, I'm sure of it. I see my future with her." She could talk about Lexa for hours she was sure. She wanted to tell her mom everything that had happened just a few nights before, but now wasn't the time.

"So, how did she feel about finally meeting Avery?"

Clarke gulped back the guilt she hadn't stopped feeling. "Um, surprised?"

"Clarke Griffin! Are you telling me you still hadn't told her about your daughter? You've talked about this girl nonstop for months and yet you haven't told her something this important."

Clarke's head fell into her hands as new tears formed. She'd messed this up and she knew it. She was surprised Lexa wasn't more upset with her. Maybe she was and she wasn't showing it because of what Clarke and her family was going through. And then later it would come back to bite her in the ass.

"When is a good time to reveal something like that? I tried though. I really did. I was actually trying to tell her just before this all happened." She really hoped her mother didn't take that as her placing any sort of blame. At least not on anyone but herself because she should have told Lexa sooner. "And with everything that happened with Lacy, it made me hesitant."

"Well, Lacy was a selfish bitch."

"Mom!" Clarke couldn't believe her mom had just said that. It was true, but she'd never heard her mother say anything about the other woman Clarke had dated. She hadn't even known she was into women too until college, and she worried bringing Lacy home. Her parents had a much easier time though accepting her bisexuality than they had her pregnancy to her relief.

"Well, she was," Abby responded. "I never told you about the phone call I overheard when you stayed with us. She was telling someone how easy she was going to have it because you were going to be a doctor so she'd never have to work. She could just play all day. And if Avery ever did come to live with you, she'd talk you into boarding school or something."

This wasn't all that surprising with everything she knew about Lacy. She hadn't told her mother everything that had happened there at the end. She had just been so happy to get away from her once and for all. She promised herself once everything settled down she'd tell Lexa the whole story of her ex. She might better understand why Clarke was so hesitant to talk about Avery.

"Well, Lexa is nothing like that. She offered to stay with Avery today. She said she was excited to get to know her. They seem to get along really well."

Abby smiled. She knew how important that was to her daughter. She would never stay with anyone Avery didn't like. Their granddaughter may have lived with them, but Clarke was still there in all the ways that mattered. She called at least five times a week just to talk to Avery, sometimes every day if she could find the time. They also skyped and Clarke would help her with homework over video chat. She was proud of Clarke for everything she'd accomplished, but also for being the involved mother that she was. She knew a lot of people in Clarke's position might have just left their kid with their parents and stopped in when it suited them.

That had never been Clarke. She knew her daughter hated being away from Avery. But she also knew it wouldn't have been fair to keep Avery with her when she couldn't give her the attention she needed. Avery would have had to spend most of her days in day care. By staying with her grandparents, she was able to spend a lot more time at home since Jake had a fairly normal schedule and could be home with her most of the time. With Abby having random days off, that also increased the odds.

They had all hoped she'd get an internship at Abby's hospital so she could move home, but that hadn't happened, unfortunately. So, they'd put off Clarke taking Avery until she was done with her internship and her sixty or more hours a week.

It seemed now, that maybe she had been meant to move to Washington D.C. so that she could meet Lexa. If she had come home to California the two of them would never have met. The way her Clarke talked about the other girl, she knew that would have been a tragedy.

"Well, hopefully that still holds true after they've been stuck together for a while," Abby smirked. "Especially if Avery starts talking about her books."

"Oh, dear," Clarke groaned. She forgot how much her daughter could talk when it came to the book she'd just read. She'd had to live through several phone calls where they entire conversation was about Avery's newest favorite story.

"Or even worse, an interrogation."

At that, Clarke grimaced because neither option would end well for Lexa. She just hoped her girlfriend could take it.

~CL~

"So, then I told TJ that wasn't nice. He stuck his tongue out at me, so I kicked him in the shin," Avery ended her story. Lexa couldn't remember how they'd gotten to where they were, all she'd asked is what Avery wanted for breakfast. She was pretty sure that question still hadn't been answered either.

Was she just supposed to ignore the fact that Avery had admitted to kicking someone? Was she supposed to say something to her. She was so out of her depth here. "I don't think you're supposed to kick people."

"That's what mom said. She told me to use my words next time. Grandma grounded me when she found out. But he shouldn't have taken Jackie's cookie."

That's how they'd gotten into this conversation. Avery had tried to convince her they should have cookies for breakfast. Lexa hadn't taken that bait but it had ended up in a twenty-minute story about some kids at school. It was cute though.

"Okay, why don't you go get dressed and I'll do the same. We'll meet down in the kitchen and find something to eat."

"Okay," Avery agreed. With more energy than should be allowed, she jumped off the bed and raced for her own room to do as Lexa had suggested.

Lexa got up much slower and checked her phone first to see that Clarke had text her while she was still sleeping. Apparently, her mom had, had a good night. Lexa was happy to hear that. There hadn't been another update since so she wasn't sure if Abby was awake yet, but she figured Clarke would let her know when she had a chance.

She wasn't sure if she had enough time for a shower before Avery finished getting ready but she really needed one so decided for at least a quick rinse down. By the time she'd made it downstairs Avery was sitting on the bar stool with her feet swinging in the air as she sat on her hands.

"Now, I'm not as good of a cook as your mom, so any suggestions?"

"I have Lucky Charms in the cupboard."

That surprised Lexa. Clarke didn't really care for cereal. She'd heat up frozen waffles if she was in a hurry. Sometimes she skipped breakfast all together, but her girlfriend had told her she was never that big on cereal, and that her mother never bought the stuff anyway. Too much sugar so early in the morning.

"Cereal it is." That was simple enough. All she'd need is a bowl and some milk. Maybe letting Clarke teach her how to cook wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. She couldn't feed the kid cereal every time they were alone together. And she was pretty sure neither mother or grandmother would appreciate a lot of take out either. Lexa excelled at ordering take out.

"So, what do you like to do?" Lexa asked as they both dug into their bowls. She was honest when she told Clarke she wanted to get to know Avery.

"I read. You need to come see my room, I have like a whole library. I have so many books we had to put some of them in the guest room."

"You'll have to show me after we eat," Lexa agreed. She hadn't really seen much of the house yet. She knew from the outside it was fairly large. She knew Jake had made almost as much as his wife as an engineer for a large company, though she couldn't remember the name of the company Clarke had told her.

She was impressed when once Avery was done, she rinsed her bowl out and put it in the dishwasher. Although she really shouldn't have been, Clarke always did the same. She kept her apartment overly clean, even with all the hours she spent at the hospital. Lexa had picked up a lot of the same habits spending so much time with the other girl.

As soon as her own bowl was put in the dishwasher, Avery was grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the stairs. The girl's room was pretty much what she'd expect from a ten-year-old. Her bedding was purple, her closet was open but organized and full of all sorts of frilly clothes as well as a ton of t-shirts. She had a large dollhouse in one corner, and a shelving unit full of toys that probably wouldn't be played with for much longer. Another corner had an L-shaped desk that had plenty of room for homework but also a laptop that probably was used often to video chat with her mother.

Now that Lexa knew about Avery, a lot of things made a lot of sense. Like that fact that when Clarke was home her own laptop was usually up and Skype was signed in. She knew Clarke had left her in bed several times and come back to bed after a chat. She'd never gone out though to see what Clarke was up to, figuring the other girl was just talking to her parents.

Clarke had admitted she talked to Avery like a friend or a sister sometimes. She had probably heard a few of their conversations and just didn't know it. She didn't want to analyze every minute of their relationship, but she'd always wonder now what signs she'd missed.

The one thing in the room that she wouldn't expect was the giant bookshelves that took up a good portion of one wall. Avery wasn't kidding when she said she had a library. Several of the books were familiar. She'd seen them before. "Your mom has a lot of these books in her apartment."

"That's because when she buys me a new book she always buys two copies so we can read them together." The way Avery said that like it should just be obvious was funny to Lexa. It was so funny how kids just thought things were normal to everyone just because it was normal to them.

"So, like you both read them and talk about them?"

Avery rolled her eyes and plopped down on her bed. "No, like we read them together on the computer."

"Oh." That was actually, really cute. She could picture them each sitting at their desks with a book and taking turns reading different parts.

"Sometimes we have to do our reading on the phone, but that's not as much fun. I can't see the funny faces mom makes at the characters then."

And now that was even more adorable and Lexa needed to see this. There was a whole other side to her girlfriend that she would have to fall in love with and that was the mom. Clarke was clearly an involved parent, even from a distance. She couldn't understand how it had taken so long for Clarke to tell her she had a daughter.

She had to be missing something. That was the only explanation. She knew Clarke trusted her, knew she loved her. There had to be more to the story of why she had waited so long. It was the only thing that made sense. Still she wouldn't push. Not right now. Clarke had enough going on as it was.

"What else do you like to do besides read?"

Avery smiled at her reached over to her bedside table and grabbed a notebook that was sitting there. She patted the bed with one hand so that Lexa would come sit beside her. And of course, Lexa took the hint and sat down beside the young girl.

Avery opened to a page in her notebook and passed it over to Lexa. The writing wasn't the greatest but Lexa could make out the words even the ones that were misspelled. "Did you write this?"

Avery nodded proudly. "Yep, it's a story I've been working on. Mom's been helping me get the sentences right, but she's the only one that's seen it. Well, besides you now obviously."

Lexa was honored. She couldn't believe how easily this kid had accepted her. She had originally thought it would be a lot harder to get this kid to like her. She knew she wanted to though. Even if she was a little hurt at Clarke, she still loved her and she wanted a future with her. That future included Avery now.

They had a lot to figure out, but she knew they could. If they loved each other as much as she believed they did then they would be fine. It just might take some time to figure it all out.

"What's the story about?"

"There's this hero with these superpowers and she had to leave her family behind so she could go and save the world. She's really lonely though because she's so far away from her family. But then one day there's a fire in this big building and she saves this girl and they fall in love. The hero's family is happy because she's not alone anymore."

Lexa smiled, because whether Avery knew it or not, she'd wrote a story about her mother. She was sure that even if Avery didn't realize it, that Clarke did so in a way their story was in there with Clarke's help. She closed the notebook though because she didn't want to read it, at least not right then.

"That's awesome. You'll have to let me read it when it's finished. If you want to that is."

"You can read it second. Mom gets to read it first."

"Of course."

Lexa's phone beeped with an incoming text. She unlocked it to find a long message from Clarke with an update. "Hey kiddo, wanna go to the hospital now? Your grandma wants to see you."

"She's awake?" Lexa nodded. "Let's go!" As Lexa was once again being dragged through the house, she realized she was going to need a lot more energy to keep up with Avery. She was looking forward to it.