A/N: I really didn't mean to leave you all hanging so long. I work retail and so I'm mentally and physically drained so my only real days to write are my days off and now that my schedule is all messed up (used to work a fairly consistent schedule) I'm back to constant migraines and headaches. I'll try to do better.

Chapter 27

Over the last couple of months, it had become common for the three Griffin women to find themselves seated around the living room when they were all home at the same time. Sometimes they would binge watch a show together or check out a new movie. Other times they would converse about their day or other things they wanted to share.

Today however they were sitting mostly in silence, just enjoying the peace that they sometimes took for granted.

June was now upon them, and with that, Clarke and Avery's trip out east. Clarke was using the quiet time to pull up their flight information and check-in on her phone. She screenshot their boarding passes just in case her phone decided not to work when it came time to use them.

"You sure you don't want to go with us, Mom?" Clarke turns to look at her mother who was quietly reading a medical journal. "We can see if we can get you on our flight."

Abby knew why Clarke was asking. While she was doing a whole lot better these days, she still was no where near her old self. She still required a cane to walk, but she probably always would. There was no use pretending otherwise and they just needed to get use to the way things were now and move on.

"I'll be fine," she tried to reassure. "Derek will be around if I need anything and Mrs. Kane. You two go and have a good time. Don't worry about me."

Clarke thought about arguing but knew she wouldn't win. She knew she would still worry, but her mom was right, she would be fine. She had people around to help her if she needed anything. Maybe it would do them all some good to have a little bit of space. Let her mom gain some of her independence back without Clarke hovering.

Clarke turned to look at her daughter who was curled up in her grandfather's recliner, reading her book. "Are you all packed, little one?"

The frown on Avery's face said more than words ever could. The young girl hated when her reading was interrupted. "Almost."

"You better go finish up then. Remember we gotta leave here super early so that means an early night," Clarke reminded her. Since they would be losing three hours on the trip, Clarke decided on an early flight so they would get there by afternoon and have enough time to settle in.

"Fine," Avery grouched and put her bookmark in her book and headed for the door.

"You only need to pack the book you're reading. I've got new ones for you at the apartment," Clarke called out after her. She'd picked some up over time, originally intending to give them to her daughter when she came to visit her this summer.

"What if I finish that one before we get there?"

"Two, no more," Clarke conceded.

Luckily for Clarke, beyond a few essentials, she didn't need to pack anything since most of her stuff was still in D.C. Instead she would be packing up her old life, once they were there. The plan was to spend a week with Lexa. After that Avery and Clarke would drive back across the country, doing some sight-seeing along the way.

It would be a nice way to spend some quality time with her daughter. Something she didn't get to do enough of, even living in the same house. She had two weeks of vacation scheduled and she planned to enjoy every moment of it.

~CL~

The alarm went off far to early for Clarke, even for an early riser like herself. She wanted to leave the house by four though, so she begrudgingly got up. She knocked on Avery's door and when that got no response, she entered the room and gently shook the girl awake.

"Come on, sweetie. We gotta get moving. You just have to get dressed. We'll get breakfast on the way."

The two Griffins quickly got ready and headed out the door. Avery was back asleep within minutes in the car. Clarke just smiled at her and decided they'd eat after they made it through security. She didn't want to wake the other girl if she could avoid it.

The drive wasn't long, but finding parking took a while and by the time they were ready to leave the car Avery was a lot more alert. Clarke made a note of where it was parked so she could text Derek who planned to pick it up for them later.

This early in the morning, getting through security was quick and they were able to grab some food finally. While they waited by their terminal, Avery curled into her side and played a game on her phone. Clarke texted back and forth with Lexa while the other girl got ready for work. Sadly, she had to work that day and wouldn't be able to meet them at the airport. Clarke just hoped she'd get off on time, she couldn't wait to see her. This time apart had been hard on both of them.

An hour into their flight, Avery was thoroughly bored. Clarke had been expecting this and had a surprise up her sleeve. Luckily, she'd been able to leave it hidden in her carry on, so Avery had been none the wiser. "Hey, little one, I got something for you."

"What is it?"

Clarke reached into her bag and pulled out the case and handed it over. The girl unzipped it and squealed at what she found inside. "You got me a Switch."

"Actually, I got us a Switch," Clarke teased. She'd bought both Mario Kart and Mario Party so they could play them together as well as a few other games that had at least two players, like monopoly. "What do you say? Wanna race?" she smirked.

She set it up so they both could play. Clark went for Toadstool while Avery chose Princess Peach and off they went. They played through several races, mostly losing to the computer, but thoroughly enjoying themselves.

By the time they brought their in-flight meal, both of their hands were hurting, and they were ready to call it quits for the time being.

Avery was getting antsy by the end of their flight and Clarke was glad they were almost to their destination. Her daughter wasn't used to being cooped up like that for so long.

It took them almost a half hour to make it through baggage claim and make it outside where Clarke had ordered an Uber to take them to the apartment. Traffic was heavy, but the ride wasn't too bad and she had never been so happy to see her old home.

Unlocking the door, she took in the small changes Lexa had made in her absence and smiled. The place smelled like her girlfriend now. It was still decorated the same, but there were small touches that hadn't been there before and more of Lexa's things sitting out.

She led Avery through the apartment and smiled to see the door to the second bedroom now opened. Clarke had left it closed so Lexa didn't question what was in there. Maybe if her girlfriend had been nosy, she would have been able to tell her sooner. That wasn't in Lexa's nature though.

Lexa had clearly washed the bedding recently as the smell of fresh laundry filled the room. There was now another photo hanging on the wall of the three of them, something she'd also added. A few stuffed animals Clarke didn't remember buying also now occupied the bed.

"This room is all yours," Clarke told Avery. "Put things where you want. There should be some hangers in the closet if you want to hang anything up. Or there's the dresser," she pointed at the object. She'd bought the set when she'd moved into this apartment, but this was the first time Avery had been here.

Clarke left Avery to it and went to her own room. She laid down on her bed and put her face into the pillows, breathing it in. She'd get to see Lexa soon, but for now this would have to do. She was so happy to see Lexa had made herself truly at home. She had worried when she suggested Lexa move in here that the other girl would still treat it as if she was a guest. She was glad to see that wasn't the case.

"Hey, mom?"

Clarke rolled over and looked towards the door. "Yes, baby?"

"I'm not a baby," Avery groaned.

"I keep telling you, you'll always be my baby." She sat up and patted the bed beside her. Avery took the cue and sat down beside her mom. "What's up?"

"Do you think Lexa will be happy to see me?"

Clarke took a deep look into her daughter's eyes and saw the girl was seriously worried. "Of course, she is. Why would you think she wouldn't?"

"I dunno."

Clarke put a hand on her daughter's chin and guided her to look her way. "Avery? What's going on? Tell me what's bugging you."

Avery sighed. She never hid anything from her mom. Maybe it would help to talk about it. "One of the girls at school was talking about how her mom got a new boyfriend. She said he acted all interested in her when her mom was looking but he won't even talk to her if her mom isn't in the room."

That hurt Clarke right in the chest and brought back memories. That is exactly what Lacy had done. She was so glad her little girl didn't remember her. She pulled Avery into her and gave her a big hug. "You know that's not what Lexa is doing, right?"

Avery shrugged her shoulders.

"Lexa loves you, sweetheart. If she didn't, do you think she would text you every morning?" Avery looked to be in deep thought with that question. "She's always asking me how you are and what your up to when she calls me. She's been so excited to get to show you around."

Clarke pulled out her phone and scrolled through her texts and then turned the phone so Avery could see it.

Lexa: I can't wait to see you both. I hate that I can't pick you up at the airport. I wanted to be able to greet Avery on her first trip to D.C.

"See, what I mean?"

Avery smiled and nodded her head. "I can't wait to see her too!"

Clarke looked at the clock. "Well, we've got a couple hours before she'll be home." Clarke really hoped she'd be on time, so she didn't have to explain to her daughter why Lexa was late. Overtime for a cop usually didn't mean anything good. "Let me see what we have in the kitchen, we might need to hit the store."

Clarke checked the fridge and all the cupboards and like she thought, they needed to go shopping. Obviously, Lexa had tried to stock up for them, but her girlfriend tended to eat prepared meals and kindergarten food if someone wasn't around to cook for her. It made Clarke laugh when they started dating.

"Alright, let's go shopping. Lexa attempted to get food for us all, but you are not going to live on frozen dinners."

"Why not?" Avery never got to eat those, it sounded like fun to her.

"Because, you need real food." Avery sighed but followed her out and down the stairs. "Luckily there's a market we can walk too." It would give her a chance to show Avery around a little bit.

They shopped quickly, grabbing enough variety for all of them. Clarke would be cooking a lot, but she didn't mind it. She had a lot of time on her hands for the next couple of weeks.

Once everything was put away, Clarke grabbed the chicken she'd bought for that night and began to cut it up into chunks. Avery sat on the barstool and watched her mother cook. Clarke handed her some vegetables to cut up for their salad and she was happy to help.

They were halfway through preparations when the door opened, and a very exhausted Lexa stepped through. Seeing her girls in the kitchen, she quickly made her way over to them and wrapped Avery in a hug and held her close. "Oh, my girl. I'm so happy you're here." Lexa kept hold on her for a long while and kept repeating something under her breath that neither Avery nor Clarke could hear.

When she finally let go, she went around the island and hugged Clarke from behind. "That smells really good. I've missed your cooking."

Clarke looked over her should and smiled. "Just my cooking?"

"Nope," Lexa kissed her hard and then pulled away. "Looks like you guys have been busy. And went shopping."

"Yes, someone doesn't know how to shop like a proper adult," Clarke teased.

"I do too!" Clarke walked away from the stove and opened the freezer door and pointed to the two piles of TV dinners. "Okay, point taken."

"We're almost done here if you want to change out of the uniform." Lexa nodded and walked to their room.

Once she was out of earshot, Clarke looked at Avery, "still worried she doesn't care about you?" Avery shook her head. Lexa had hugged her longer than she hugged her mother, so clearly she had nothing to be worried about.

"Nope, she obviously loves me more than you," she teased.

Clarke knew there was more to that hug then either of them knew, but she wouldn't say anything to her kid. She knew the case Lexa had been working on was hard on her, but she couldn't explain that to Avery without letting her know the horrors the other woman was facing.

Later that night after Avery was asleep and Clarke and Lexa were cuddled in bed, Lexa told her all about the case now that it was closed. They had been searching for weeks for that little boy but had only had a break in the case over the weekend when his mother had finally woken up and been able to give them some answers.

"Turns out he was adopted, so we went looking for his birth parents. His birth father had found out about him recently and decided to take him. But having a kid who didn't know him and wanted his parents wasn't easy and more work than he'd thought so he'd barely cared for the boy." Lexa couldn't believe how dirty and hungry the little boy had been. He was now in the hospital being cared for. They'd set him up in the same room has his mother and two were recovering well.

"What about his father?"

"He's in a coma but his prognosis is good."

"That's good. I'm glad you found him." She understood now why Lexa went for Avery first. And whether Lexa realized it or not, she felt like Avery was hers, if her earlier words were anything go to by. Clarke couldn't be anything but happy about this development.

Hopefully soon they'd be a family and Clarke couldn't wait.

A/N 2: I recently took my own flight across the country and thankfully I did what Clarke did and screenshot my boarding pass cause the app didn't want to work on my return flight.

Also a girl next to me was totally enthralled by what the Nintendo Switch could do, she'd never heard of one before. I've never tried to play 2 players on the handheld version, only in console mode, so if that's not accurate let's just pretend it is for the image of Clarke and Avery playing together.