A/N: I totally almost forgot to update today. Oops.

Chapter 8

"So, Clarke mentioned you were a cop," Abby stated in an attempt to change the subject. She also wanted to get to know this girl that had captured her daughter's heart so fully.

"Yeah, I've been on the force, let's see, it's been four, almost five years now. I went to college before I entered the police academy." Lexa started to explain. She wanted Abby to like her. "I've been working towards becoming a detective recently. I've still got a ways to go, but I'll get there," she told her with conviction.

"Is being here going to hurt that?" Abby felt bad if it did. From everything she'd heard from Clarke, this girl was just as focused on her career as her daughter was.

"No, I had a couple weeks of leave saved up. My captain probably doesn't appreciate me leaving on such short notice, but he can deal. I'm where I need to be."

Abby felt so incredibly grateful that her daughter had found such a wonderful person. She was really hoping that they'd make it through all this together and Lexa would join the family someday. She was sad to realize that her husband would never meet her. Jake would have loved this girl. "I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you are here for my girls. My husband would have loved to have met you." She tried to hide her emotions but she knew she had failed when she saw the sympathy in Lexa's eyes.

Lexa for her part reached out a hand and laid it on top of the other woman's in comfort. "I'm so sorry for your loss. From everything Clarke has told me he sounded like an amazing man."

"Thank you, he was. He spoiled Clarke rotten when she was little and then repeated the cycle with Avery. He had to do a lot of the parenting since I worked such long hours. I always worried that someday Clarke would come to resent me."

"She's proud of you," Lexa reassured. She had never even gotten a hint that Clarke held any ill feelings towards her mother. In fact, it seemed like just the opposite, Clarke had followed in her mother's footsteps. And she'd left her own daughter to be raised the same way. "I think the very fact that she left Avery to be raised as she was proves it."

"I've never thought of it that way," Abby admitted. Surely if she had hated her own childhood or at the least those parts of it, she would never have left Avery behind. "Thank you," she said softly.

Lexa only smiled because she understood what Abby was really saying. She was now able to see things just a little bit differently than she had previously.

"What are we thanking her for?" Clarke asked as she wandered back into the room with her hands full with a tray of food and a drink. Avery was behind her trying not to spill the two drinks she was carrying.

"Nothing important," Abby answered. Clarke didn't need to know what they had been discussing.

Clarke gave them both a look that said she didn't believe them, but she didn't push the subject. "We got a teriyaki chicken and rice bowl for Lexa, sweet and sour for me and spaghetti for Avery. I could not convince her to get Chinese with us."

"Of course not," Abby smirked. Avery could be very stubborn when it came to food. She didn't particularly care for Chinese but would eat it when she wasn't given much of a choice.

"Sorry we didn't get anything for you, mom. Hospital policy and all."

"It's alright. You girls go ahead and eat. I'm sure they'll bring my goop along any minute now."

Clarke laughed at the look on Lexa's face when her mom mentioned goop. It was a common joke among the doctors here to refer to the patient food as goop. The cafeteria had really good food, but the stuff they brought to patients wasn't nearly as good. "The food they bring the patients isn't nearly as good as what we'll be eating," Clarke explained to her girlfriend.

"We got you water. Mom said you don't really drink soda," Avery told Lexa as she handed her one of the cups in her hands.

"I don't. I drink juice though and sometimes tea."

"See, we could have got her the apple juice," Avery glared at her mother.

"It's okay, water is fine."

By the time the girls had all gotten settled and began eating, Maya came in the room with Abby's meal. "Looks like the gangs all here again, today," she smiled as she helped Abby sit up a little better so that she could eat.

"Yep, all my girls are here," Abby smiled throwing a smile at not only Clarke and Avery but at Lexa as well.

"Just don't get to rowdy in here," Maya teases.

"We won't. In fact I'm going to be kicking these girls out once they are done eating," Abby announces.

"What? Mom, no."

"Yes, Clarke. You don't need to be cooped up in here all day. And I need some time alone."

Clarke sighed. She hated it but she understood where her mom was coming from. They both liked to deal with their emotions on their own. She'd gotten a little better at sharing with Lexa but she still liked that time to herself. She wasn't sure it was the right thing to leave her mom though while she was recovering from being shot. "Fine, but I'm coming back later tonight. Monty was going to come back to discuss where we go from here and I want to be there for that."

"That's fine."

There was a silence over the room after that. Everyone focused on their meal instead of talking. Almost as if they were afraid to break whatever the mood was that fell upon them.

When they did finally start preparing to leave Avery fought against it. They hadn't even been there that long and she didn't want her grandmother to be alone. Abby tried to reassure her that she was fine, that she was among friends. They made promises that she'd be able to come back tomorrow for another visit.

"Who do you want to ride with?" Clarke asked when they'd made it out to the parking lot.

"I'll ride with Lexa," Avery responded in a way that clearly told Clarke she wasn't happy about the situation.

The three walked together towards Abby's car in silence. Avery climbed in as soon as it was unlocked, leaving Clarke and Lexa a moment. Lexa took Clarke into her arms in a tight hug and placed a kiss to the side of her head. "It's going to be alright. She just needs some time. You all do."

Clarke wasn't sure if she was talking about Avery or Abby, but she took comfort in the embrace. Avery was similar to her mother and grandmother and might just need some time away as well. Still Clarke planned to talk to her when they got home. She didn't want her daughter to be as closed off as she could be at times. "I'll meet you back at the house," Clarke told Lexa softly before giving her a kiss.

As soon as they made it back home, Avery had run up the stairs and closed the door to her bedroom loudly, giving a clear hint to leave her alone. Clarke didn't like it, but she knew it was best to leave the girl alone for a little while.

Instead she did the one thing she was really not looking forward too. She headed towards the office they had on the main floor and turned on her mother's computer. It was time she started looking into their options for funeral arrangements.

This left Lexa alone, with no real idea what to do.

~CL~

Hours later Lexa was running out of things to do. She had already checked her email and responded to her captain that she would probably be gone at least two weeks. She had watched a couple episodes of Cops, because it was the only thing on that she could just mindlessly watch, even if she did criticize some of the officers and their actions. She'd also explored the house.

She was well and thoroughly bored now. So, she decided to check out the backyard. Maybe she could find a spot to just relax for a little while. Outside, under the trees was one of her favorite places to just sit and enjoy her time.

Unsurprisingly the yard was big enough to match the size of the house. There was a pool off to one side, and a nice little patio set up for barbequing. There was a treehouse off in the distance that looked old but cared for it. She figured it had been Clarkes and now Avery's.

She wandered off towards the patio swing that sat off to the opposite side, under some trees. As she took a seat, she noticed Mrs. Kane in her own yard, watering some flowers. "Hi, Mrs. Kane," she called out, knowing this woman was close to the family and probably wouldn't mind being greeted.

"Well, hello. I didn't realize you girls were home. It's so quiet over there," Mrs. Kane spoke as she made her way over to shut off the water. Looping the hose back up, she made sure everything was fine before heading through the gate and taking a seat next to the newcomer. "How is everyone doing?"

"I don't know. Avery is up in her room with her door closed. Clarke is in the office on the computer. Both seem lost in their own heads."

"And they left you all alone in a strange world."

Lexa smiled. "That about sums it up. We went over to the hospital earlier, but Abby kicked us out. I know she probably just wanted time to grieve without her daughter there to witness it."

"Sounds about right. Those Griffin women like to handle their emotions in silence. It used to drive Jake nuts. Sensitive soul that one had," Mrs. Kane reminisced. She'd been their neighbor since Clarke was just a couple of years old. She'd seen more of her fair share of their life together as a family.

"I wished I could have met him. He sounds like an amazing guy."

"Oh, he was. But I'm sure he's somewhere looking down and smiling at you. He was excited the first time Clarke called home and told them about you. He had a really good feeling and he let everyone know it."

Lexa's heart pounded a little at that. She had never met the man and yet he still seemed to like her around his daughter. She hoped he would have still felt the same after meeting her, but it sounded like he probably would have.

"Now, don't let them fool ya, he had his own flaws. But where it counted he was a good man. He never complained about being the one that had to take Clarke to this thing or that because Abby wasn't home. He asked me to teach him how to cook so he could cook dinner most nights. He even did more than his share of housework, but he never resented it. Which is rare in today's world."

"Let me guess, he kept things clean and tidy too. Never a dirty dish in the sink for long if he could help it. Clothes always put away after they are washed and in a hamper when they are dirty."

Mrs. Kane laughed. "Yes, he did. How'd you know?"

"Because Clarke does the same. Her apartment is like never dirty. It's almost immaculate at times."

"That sounds about right."

~Cl~

Clarke watched out the window at Lexa's head thrown back in laughter. Whatever Mrs. Kane had told her was clearly hilarious because her girlfriend was having a hard time getting herself under control. She wanted to go out and join them. But she knew she owed Lexa and apology for disappearing on her and she didn't want to do that with an audience.

She had been surprised to look at the clock and realize over three hours had gone by. She had been even more surprised that she hadn't heard a sound anywhere in the house, until she realized she had kind of just walked away from Lexa and hid in the office. She hadn't meant to, she just needed a moment to herself and time got away from her.

Right now, she also needed to check on Avery and that should probably come first. She knew the girl was upset with her but she wasn't really sure why. Maybe Avery didn't even know herself.

She knocked on the girl's room and got what sounded like a 'come in' through the door. "Hey, little one. What's going on?" she asked as she took a seat beside her daughter who was curled up on her bed with a book.

"Just reading this book grandpa gave me last week. Said he found it in the attic."

Clarke looked at the cover and realized it was one of her old books. "I read that when I was about your age. I loved it."

Avery seemed to hear her but didn't acknowledge it. Instead she kept reading. Clarke gave her a minute to finish the chapter before taking the book from her. She put one of the girl's bookmarks in and sat it on the bedside table. Avery let her do it without protest. "Want to tell me what's going on? You seemed really upset with me earlier and I wanted to know why."

Avery shrugged her shoulders that she didn't really know. She rolled onto her side and Clarke followed suite so they were facing each other. "I didn't want to leave grandma alone."

"You know it wasn't my idea to leave either. Grandma wanted some time alone."

"I know," Avery sniveled.

"They why were you acting mad at me?"

"I don't know," Avery told her honestly. "I miss grandpa," she cried.

Clarke choked back a sob as she put her arms around her daughter and pulled in her in close. I do too, sweetheart. I do, too." Clarke held Avery close as the tears poured from both of their eyes. She knew Avery hadn't really processed what was happening and it seemed like it was now hitting her.

"He was going to teach me how to play basketball so that maybe I could play on the team with some of my friends."

This was news to Clarke, she had no idea that her daughter had any interest in sports. She herself had never had any interest. "I know it's not the same, but Lexa knows how to play. Maybe she'll teach you."

Avery's tears started to slow down a little bit. She wanted her grandpa to teach her. He promised. But maybe she could aske Lexa anyway. "He was going to take me camping this summer."

Clarke groaned at that. Of course, he was. That was one thing Clarke had always refused to do. She couldn't understand why sleeping on the ground in the middle of nowhere was fun. Clearly her daughter was not of the same opinion and her father had probably been all too happy about that.

As much as she hated the very idea of camping, she would do anything to help ease her daughter's pain. "Maybe you and I can go camping this summer instead. We could maybe even get Lexa to come. Ooh, and maybe Uncle Derek." Because if she was camping she needed at least one person with them who knew what they were doing.

"What about grandma?"

"We'll have to see how her legs are. Camping might not be possible."

"Oh."

"I'm sure we'll find other fun things to do with her though."

Avery sat up quickly, with almost no trace of her earlier breakdown. "Like Disneyland?"

Well at least that sounded better than camping. It was funny when you thought about it. They lived in California but Clarke could only remember going to the park once herself and she was pretty young at the time. Avery had never been. Maybe once they'd made it past all this grief they could do something fun like that. "We'll see."

That was all the answer Avery needed because she knew it was only a matter of time before she convinced her mother to take her. She was still upset that her grandpa was gone and she knew her mother was too, but just knowing her mom was here made it a little easier.

"I'm glad you're home."

Clarke pulled her daughter into her arms. "I'm glad I am, too." In her heart, she was making a promise that she wouldn't leave again. She didn't know what the future will bring, but she didn't think that after everything that had happened she would be able to leave her daughter again.

They were still curled together when Lexa came searching for them a little while later, it looked like they had both fallen asleep after a heartfelt talk if the dried tear streaks were anything to go by. She could see how tightly Clarke held on to Avery and even in sleep Lexa could see where her heart lied. She felt a small pang in her heart when she thought of the conversation that would eventually have to take place between them.