A/N: Clearly I suck at timely updates. But anyway here's the conversation you've all been waiting for. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

Chapter 14

Clarke woke up the next morning with Avery still in between both her and Lexa. The girl was cuddled into her side and Lexa's arm was stretched out across the both of them. There was a complete feeling of contentment that came over her in that moment, like everything was exactly as it should be.

She laid there for a while, not ready for the feeling to end. She dreamed about what the future could hold for all of them. She really hoped it was a life for all of them together, but she feared that maybe it wouldn't be. Lexa had a job, one she'd worked hard for in DC. Clarke's life was now in California.

They weren't even technically living together yet, but Clarke really hoped that Lexa was willing to move here with her. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. She understood if there was things Lexa needed to accomplish before she moved. What she wasn't sure about is if a five-month relationship was strong enough to survive this. Was it asking too much, too soon?

Although, she couldn't imagine living her life with anyone else by her side. She knew after their third date that Lexa was it for her. She was the girl that Clarke had been waiting all her life to meet.

And now the potential loss would be even more devastating because Avery was involved. Her daughter was already so attached to Lexa that if this ended, they wouldn't be the only ones that would be hurt by it. Avery would be deeply affected by it.

She looked over into the face of the woman she loved and just hoped that everything would work out for them. That someday they would be happily married and enjoying the life they built together. Maybe with more children. Hopefully Lexa was up for that, because Clarke loved kids and hoped to have at least one or two more someday.

Knowing that neither one of her girls would probably be waking anytime soon, Clarke slowly slipped out from under them and out of the bed. She spent another minute watching them both in slumber before making her way downstairs.

She wasn't surprised to find her mother already in the kitchen, trying to fix herself something to eat. The two of them always were early birds. It was nice to see her mother was getting an appetite back as well.

She did however want to jump in and help her mother as she tried to reach for things from her chair, but didn't know if the help would be welcome. Hopefully soon they would be able to get her mother up on two feet, so she could at least stand with a walker or crutches. If not, they would have to think about permanently modifying the kitchen and downstairs bathroom for her. She hoped for her mother's sake it didn't come to that.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Clarke asked, instead of outright asking if her mother needed help. She figured that would be a simpler approach, it wouldn't imply that Abby needed help, but would still extend an offer.

"Oh, Clarke, good morning," Abby offered a small smile. It wasn't the kind that Clarke was used to, but it was something of a positive emotion. Maybe they would all make it through this eventually. "Can you stir the eggs for me?

"Oh, yeah, sure," Clarke smiled back and made her way over to the stove. Now that she was closer she could see her mother had actually been quite busy already this morning. She had enough food on the counter for all of them.

"I can reach well enough to flip the pancakes, but I know I'm not getting the eggs stirred enough from down here," Abby explained. She wouldn't tell Clarke that it had taken a lot longer than she would have like to even get to this point. "I know you've had deal with a lot this week, so I wanted to do something nice for you guys."

"You didn't have to. I understand," Clarke told her, and she really meant it. Yeah, it sucked that she'd planned most of her father's funeral alone, and taken care of the house and all those responsibilities. But she did understand that her mother was dealing with a lot. She had lost her husband, she'd lost the use of her leg, and she'd suffered a trauma. It was reasonable that she'd hidden herself away.

"I know, but I wanted to. Especially after you had to deal with your grandmother yesterday," Abby continued.

"You heard that, did you?" Her mother hadn't been in the room, but her bedroom really wasn't that far away from the family room, and sound carried well in that direction. It wasn't all that surprising if her mother had heard all of it.

"Yeah, I did. I thought about interrupting, but you seemed to be holding your own," Abby told her. She didn't want Clarke to think she had just ignored the situation. She had wanted to help her. A part of her didn't want to deal with Karlene either when she felt so vulnerable in this chair.

Just knowing her mother wanted to be there for her was enough to make Clarke happy. "It's alright. It was probably better that way. It was something we needed to have out."

"Well, just in case there is any doubt, I love Lexa and I have no problem with your relationship. Your father didn't either." She knew Clarke already knew this, but she thought it bared repeating after what she heard the night before.

"Of that, I have no doubt." She had probably the most loving and understanding parents there was and knew she was lucky for it. "Looks like these are done," Clarke said as she turned the burner off and pushed the eggs off to a cool spot on the stove top.

"Should we wake those two up?"

"Nah, neither one of them likes their sleep interrupted. We can keep the food warm until they are up." Clarke grabbed some plates for the two of them out of the cupboard and filled both of them up. Her mother had already moved to the table, so she met her there and placed one of them in front of her. "Need anything else? A drink?"

"There's fresh coffee in the coffee maker," Abby told her.

Clarke nodded and filled two mugs up for them and finally took a seat across from her mother.

"Avery loves Lexa too," Abby said, picking up their conversation up from before.

"Yeah, she does. And I know Lexa loves her back. She hasn't said as much to me, but I can see it in the way she cares for her. I love their little bond, but it worries me too."

Abby wondered for a moment why it would worry Clarke, but then she knew. Her daughter didn't have to say it, she just understood. Things would be changing for all of them and she didn't know how it would affect their relationship in the long run.

Before either of them could say anything further, they heard quiet footsteps heading their direction. Avery entered the kitchen as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She scanned the room and as soon as she landed sight on her mom, she headed her direction. She didn't say anything as she crawled into the small space between Clarke and the table and curled into her lap.

Clarke was reminded of when she was a toddler. Avery always made a beeline for her in the mornings and crawled into her lap when she was home. It was made even more interesting because she never did the same with her grandparents.

She wrapped her arms around the girl and pressed a kiss into her hair. She loved this feeling, even if Avery was getting to big for this. "Morning, baby. Want some breakfast? Grandma cooked pancakes." Avery nodded her head on her mother's chest, but didn't say anything.

"I'll get it for her," Abby offered.

"I'll do it," Lexa called from the doorway. She made her way over to Clarke first and gave her a peck on the lips and ran a hand through Avery's hair. "Good morning."

"Morning," Clarke smiled. The whole thing felt overly domestic and she wasn't going to complain one bit. She managed to get Avery to sit in her own chair once Lexa brought their plates over to the table. It wasn't easy though. Avery seemed very clingy this morning. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. But then I woke up and you weren't there," the girl complained.

"We all can't sleep all day," Clarke teased in an attempt to get a smile. It seemed to work.

"I didn't sleep all day," Avery argued. "It's not even nine, to early to be up on a weekend," she pouted.

"Well I woke up and neither one of you were there," Lexa added to the complaint. She was only kidding, she'd woken up as Avery was climbing out of the bed, but she'd laid there for a couple minutes until her brain felt functional.

"Gee, you two are fun this morning," Clarke teased. She was loving how light this morning was feeling. So different from the last week. It was a night and day difference. Maybe now that the hard part was over with they would be able to enjoy life a little bit again.

"Can we have a sleepover like that when I come to visit you this summer?" Avery asked.

Clarke gave a quick glanced to Lexa, but the other woman didn't notice her. She turned to Avery then. "We'll talk about that later." Or rather she'd be having a different conversation with her daughter, but that could wait until later. The conversation with Lexa was much more pressing.

Abby noticed the emotions that flashed on Clarke's face, but didn't comment. She realized that Clarke hadn't brought up the subject with Lexa yet. So, to help out, she did what she always did as a grandmother and encourage Avery to finish her breakfast, if only to slow the conversation. Clarke shot her an appreciative glance.

~CL~

Breakfast was finished, and Abby had pulled Avery into the other room, stating it had been far to long since the two of them had gotten to watch morning cartoons. In truth it was Jake who usually watched with Avery, but Abby did join on occasion. It was a good excuse to leave Clarke and Lexa alone to talk.

The two young women worked together to clean up the dishes and get the left overs taken care of. They worked mostly in silence, but they'd never needed words. They had always been in sync.

Clarke looked them both over and deemed them dressed enough to sit outside in the backyard. She didn't want little ears to hear the conversation she needed to have if it turned south. "Come outside with me."

Lexa nodded. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going. She followed her girlfriend out the sliding glass doors and took a seat beside her on the porch swing. Without thought they leaned into each other and looked out over the yard.

"There's something we need to talk about," Clarke started. "I just don't know even where to start. I'm also a little bit afraid to have this conversation," she admitted.

Lexa wrapped her arm around Clarke's shoulder and held her in close. "It's okay," she reassured. "I already know."

Clarke snapped her head to look into Lexa's eyes. "You do?"

"I do. You're staying here. You are moving back home," Lexa answered. She was surprised Clarke didn't realize she'd already figured that out. But then the other girl had a lot of other things on her mind lately.

"I want to come back with you, but I just…"

"It's okay. I understand. Your mom needs you now and Avery does too," Lexa responded. She really did understand, as much as she could anyway. She didn't have a family, but she knew how Clarke felt about her own.

"You know I want you to stay, too." Clarke had to make sure that Lexa knew that. She didn't want there to be any question about if Clarke still wanted her.

"I wish I could. I really do. I have enough leave for another week, but then I need to go back to DC."

Clarke sighed sadly. She knew this, but still it hurt to hear it out loud. She didn't know if she could bare another loss. "I get it. I don't want to lose you. I mean I know our relationship is still so young, but I love you. I know we hadn't talked about it yet, but I thought we were getting to the living together part."

"We were," Lexa reassured.

"But that was DC. You don't want to move to California with me. I get it."

Apparently, she needed to explain herself. Somehow Clarke believed that this was ending. At least the sadness in her tone gave that impression. "I do have to go back to DC, but it won't be forever."

"What?"

"I do want to move out here with you. I want to be with you. I love you, too, if you remember. I just can't move, not yet anyway. Once I make detective I can look for jobs out here."

Clarke smiled, suddenly understanding where Lexa was at. "Oh. Of course, you can't throw all your hard work away. I'm sorry. I've been so worried about this conversation, I guess I let my fears tell me what I was hearing."

Lexa hugged her girlfriend close and placed a kiss to the side of her head. "I could tell. We're going to have to be apart for a little while, but we'll make it work. I want to be here with you and Avery more than anything."

That brought a genuine smile out of Clarke. Lexa would never know how much it meant to her to hear her include Avery in things. "Long distance won't be easy."

"I know, but we'll get through it."

"Once I find a residency out here I'll be working as much as I was at home. Plus, with mom and Avery I'll have little time."

"We'll make it through," Lexa promised. "You'll still need to come out to pack up your stuff, so we can have a visit then. Unless you're going to come back with me and do it then."

"No, I'd have to be gone more days then I'm comfortable leaving mom for right now. I have enough clothes for now and I can always buy more if need me. Besides, Avery doesn't have much school left, I'd rather wait until she's out, so she can come with me." Avery had a few things at her apartment, but not much. Still she had wanted to show Avery a few things in DC when she came to visit, maybe they could still do that, like a vacation instead of a visit.

"I can see about coming out here on occasion, too, even if just for a weekend. We'll figure it out."

"You are just amazing. You know that?" Clarke kissed her then, not a small peck, but with passion and all the love she could pour into it. She was so amazed that she had found someone like Lexa. She was so compassionate and caring. She knew she was incredibly lucky to have found someone who was so willing to move their entire life for her.

"I feel the same way about you," Lexa smiled when they pulled back from the kiss. "But you know when I say a little while, I'm talking months apart."

Clarke sighed sadly. She knew this, but she hated that Lexa had voiced it. Lexa couldn't take the Detectives exam for another five months at least. She hated this, but it was what it was. "We'll make it work," Clarke repeated Lexa's words. They had too, because she couldn't imagine a life without the other woman.