A/N: Finally a new chapter. Getting used to a new schedule is kicking me in the butt. Hopefully I won't be so long with the next one because I think it will be really fun to write.

Chapter 33

With the phone pressed to her ear, Clarke plopped down into one of the on-call room beds. "How are you doing, love?" she heard from the other side of the phone.

"I'm exhausted and I haven't been home in almost two days," Clarke answered as she kicked off her shoes and laid back onto the bed. Just being off her feet came as a great relief. She'd been on her feet for more hours then she'd cared to count. Just as her shift was about to end the day before there'd been a huge accident involving multiple cars and a city bus so it had been an all hands on deck sort of situation. They'd gotten everyone taken care of only a few hours before her next shift so she'd decided to just try to catch a few hours of sleep in the hospital before going again.

"I'm sorry, Clarke. It's almost over though right?"

"Thankfully. I just need to get through two more hours and then I'm home free."

"You have tomorrow off, right?"

Clarke let out a breath of relief before answering Lexa. "Thank goodness. Not sure I could have made it through this extremely long shift without knowing I'd at least get a small break."

"I'm glad. You'll get through the next couple hours and when you get home and see Avery, everything will be better."

That brought a smile to Clarke's face because she knew that Lexa was right. Just seeing her daughter could make anything better. She only wished… "I wish she wasn't the only one waiting for me."

Lexa sighed. "I know, I wish I was there too."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Clarke told her after she'd heard the sadness in Lexa's voice. "I know, why you aren't here, and I am proud of what you're trying to accomplish. It's just so hard."

Lexa nodded even though she knew Clarke couldn't see her. "It's okay. It is really hard, this separation, but I do have good news. It looks like I'll be taking the detective's test at the beginning of September."

"That's so great!" Clarke exclaimed. She knew how anxious Lexa was getting while waiting to hear about the test. But she also knew that now Lexa would stress herself trying to prepare. "If you want me to help you study, or whatever to prepare, just let me know."

"I will. One step closer."

"One step closer," Clarke agreed. They talked for a few more minutes, but then hung up so Clarke could hopefully get a little bit of rest. She didn't want to have to drive home as tired as she was.

Avery was waiting in the family room for her when she finally made it home. She crashed on the couch beside her daughter and pulled her into a hug. Avery didn't say anything. She didn't have too. She could see how tired her mom was and just fell into the hug.

Once they parted, Clarke stretched out and Avery laid in front of her, cuddled together. It wasn't long before Clarke was sound asleep. Avery just let her sleep and continued watching her movie. She knew her mom would want to catch up with her once she finally woke up and she could wait.

~CL~

The next day, after a much needed full night's sleep, Clarke snuck into Avery's room and not so gently woke her up.

"It's to early. Let me sleep," the young girl grumbled and pulled the covers over her head. Clarke reached over and tugged on the blanket and a tug of war ensued. Avery quickly lost, however, and the blanket was pulled off the bed and thrown onto the floor.

"It's almost nine. I did let you sleep." Although Clarke herself had slept in later than normal, she'd still been up for over and hour and she wanted to spend the day with her daughter. "Come on, up. We'll go out for breakfast and do whatever you want."

"Can we go to the waterpark with all the slides?"

"If that's what you want." It actually didn't sound like a bad idea in Clarke's opinion. The summer was starting to really heat up and spending the day pool side sounded like a good idea. "But you have to get up and get your swimwear together."

"Alright, fine," Avery grumbled, but inside she was smiling. She was going to get to spend the whole day with her mom in one of her favorite places.

Clarke left her to it and went to find a bag to put all the stuff they would need. She mentally listed off the things they would need, swimsuit, coverup, towel, sunscreen. Was there anything she was forgetting? Maybe her sunglasses and a hat wouldn't be a bad idea. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and threw her brush into the bag just in case.

She wasn't surprised to see Avery hadn't made it downstairs just yet. She knew her daughter well enough to know it would take her awhile to get up and moving. She went into the kitchen and poured herself some coffee and grabbed a banana. She couldn't drink coffee on an empty stomach, but she didn't want anything to big since she told Avery they'd go out.

She made her way over to the table where her mom was sitting with her own cup and her tablet in hand. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Abby greeted back. "You feel more rested now?"

"Yes, I think I slept like ten hours. I doubt anything could have waken me either."

Abby nodded. "That's how I am after one of those shifts."

Clarke nodded. There were memories from her childhood when her mom had been gone on extremely long shifts and then she'd come home and crash for hours on end. Now she had a better understanding of why.

"That was probably my hardest shift yet. We lost one of the other drivers, but all the bus passengers survived. It was touch and go for the young girl I helped with, but I think she's going to be okay."

"The young ones are always hard. Especially when you're a parent."

Clarke had to agree. Anytime she saw someone around her daughter's age, it always hit her harder. Not that loss at any age wasn't hard, but when she could imagine it was her own child, it was like a sucker punch.

"Hey, we're going out for breakfast if you want to come," Clarke said, changing the subject. "Avery wants to go to the waterpark after, but we could always bring you back home after breakfast." She knew the waterpark was a long shot since her mom still didn't leave the house very often, but maybe she could get her to breakfast.

"I already ate," Abby tried as an excuse.

Clarke picked up the wrapper that was still sitting on the table. "One tiny muffin, does not a breakfast make." She knew her mom still wasn't eating very much, but that was nothing even for her.

"I'm sure Avery would love it if you came. We always used to go to breakfast together." Whenever she had a chance to come home, the four of them would find at least one morning to go to breakfast. It was something she missed doing with her father, but they could at least keep the tradition alive in a way.

"Alright." Abby conceded. "Let me get ready."

Clarke just watched her leave the room. It was still hard to see her mom needing help to walk but watching her with a walker was a lot easier than the wheelchair.

Avery came down a few minutes later and was very excited to hear that her grandmother was coming with. Getting her into the car could still be hard at times, but by the time they were on their way, Avery was singing to herself in the backseat and Clarke and Abby both had big smiles on their faces.

The three Griffin girls had a great morning just getting to enjoy each other's company. And Clarke couldn't help but smile at seeing how at ease her mother seemed to be. Hopefully they were past the worst of it, but she wouldn't hold her breath.

"When does Lexa get here?" Abby asked. She knew the young woman was coming back out to spend time with her girls, but she hadn't heard when.

"She's flying in Saturday morning and then we'll head out to the campground on Sunday."

"Wow, only a week until you get to see her again then. Are you excited?"

Clarke just gave her an 'are you serious face.' Of course she was freaking excited. She couldn't wait to have her in her arms again. Even if they would be doing the one thing she was almost dreading, sleeping outdoors.

Avery on the other hand practically squealed. "I can't wait. Lexa said she'd show me how to fish and how to make smores."

"Since when does Lexa know how to fish?" Clarke asked, because she didn't know her girlfriend fished.

Avery just shrugged and continued to list off all the things they were going to do on their trip.

"Trish and the boys are coming too, so we were going to rent a boat and take it out on the lake. Apparently, Luke knows how to drive one." Clarke told her mother.

"Sounds like you guys are going to have a great time."

Avery studied her grandmother. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" she asked. She didn't like the idea of leaving her behind.

Abby forced a smile. "I'm sure. Your uncle Derek and I are going to have some fun of our own." It was a half-truth. Derek would be around to help out.

"I keep trying to talk them into letting me rent an RV, but I keep getting out-voted," Clarke pouted. It wouldn't be so bad to camp if she had one of those.

They had at least agreed to a tent trailer, so she'd take what she could, although Avery was determined to sleep in an actual tent. The plan was that Luke would sleep out in the tent with the kids and the three women would bunk in the trailer. It was a decent compromise. And that way they'd have a little more shelter if they came upon bad weather.

They left the diner and made their way back out to the car. Avery tried to convince her grandma to at least come to the park, but they dropped her off at home and headed off.

This was one of the few outdoor activities Clarke could say she actually enjoyed. It didn't hurt that she'd been coming to this same park since she was a kid herself. The slides had been well maintained and they occasionally added new attractions.

They both headed for the line for the one that was almost a straight drop. No matter way to get wet then to drive right in, or drop right in. With the current temperature outside, the water was very warm and wasn't a huge shock to their systems, but it still felt good.

They swam and played for hours, only stopping to eat lunch and then Avery was right back in the water. Clarke gave a sad smile as she watched her baby playing in the water. She reminded her so much of Tom today. He never had any fear when it came to water.

She remembered coming here for his birthday one year in elementary school. They had just added the big drop slide. It didn't even phase him. He walked right over to it and waited his turn. Her and a few other kids weren't so sure and waited at the bottom to watch him come down. They smile on his face, was the same one she saw on Avery's now.

It was another two hours before Avery was finally ready to call it quits. As they drove home, Clarke glanced back at her daughter passed out on the backseat. Guess it didn't matter how old her baby got, water always wore her down in the end. She'd wake her up when they got home, but for now, she'd let her sleep.