A/N: Shorter chapter than usual, but it was a nice little wrap up to the camping trip I thought.

Chapter 38

Lexa tickled Clarke's nose in a soft attempt to wake the other girl up. They would be heading back to city in the morning and the two women hadn't had much of chance to be alone. She wanted to rectify that. Clarke slapped her hand away, so she started placing a few soft kisses on the tip of her nose instead. At the same time, she moved to tickle gently behind her ears instead. She knew how sensitive Clarke was there.

"What time is it?" Clarke groaned as she finally managed to crack her eyes open.

"Late, maybe early. I don't know."

"Then why are you waking me up?"

"Just follow me," was all Lexa said as she climbed off the bed and wandered out of the trailer. Clarke groaned, but moved to follow her girlfriend anyway. Lexa wouldn't have woken her if she didn't have something up her sleeve.

She plopped off the bed and slipped on her shoes. There was a chill in the air as she left the trailer, but with her sweats on, it was bearable. Lexa held out a hand to her and once their fingers were entwined, she led them down to the small bit of beach near their campground.

Clarke couldn't help the grin that took over when she saw what Lexa had been up to. She'd laid out their extra sleeping bag unzipped on the sand and added some blankets and pillows for a makeshift bed. There was a small lantern lighting the area. There was a bottle of wine that Clarke had never seen and some glasses as well as a few snacks.

"You want me to lay on the ground?" Clarke teased.

"Oh, quiet being a baby and just get in," Lexa rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad, I promise."

Clarke laughed, but did it anyway. She trusted Lexa. It definitely wasn't as soft as she liked, but it wasn't that much harder than the bed in the trailer. She sat back up though as Lexa poured them each a drink.

"We haven't really been alone much this trip."

Clarke leaned into Lexa and took a drink from her glass. "No, we haven't," she agreed.

"I figured no one would miss us if they were all sleeping."

Clarke let out a chuckle. "Good thinking." She broke off a cracker and added some cheese before taking a small bite. She wasn't really hungry, but Lexa had gone through all this trouble, she could at least nibble. She laughed as Lexa attempt to catch a berry with her mouth that she'd thrown into the air. She missed of course, making Clarke laugh harder.

It was dark even with the lantern, but that didn't stop Lexa from trying again anyway. Long after the wine was gone and the food was all but forgotten, the two of them laid their in each other's arms watching the stars above them.

"I really don't want you to leave again," Clarke whispered quietly when their conversation had gone quiet.

"I don't want to leave," Lexa admitted just as quietly. "But next month I can hopefully take my test and we'll be that much closer."

"Yeah, it's still to far away for my liking."

"Mine as well. But once I pass, I can start looking for open positions out here."

"Or, you could just move here and then look," Clarke suggested quickly. Anything to get her girlfriend out here quicker.

"Clarke, no."

Clarke rolled so she was look more directly at Lexa. "Why not? We'll finally be really together, and you can take all the time you need to find a spot. You don't need to be worried about money."

Lexa sat up quickly and turned to look at Clarke who soon followed. "It's not about the money. I mean, it is to some degree. I prefer to pay my own way."

"We'll be living together, as a family. That means what's mine is yours and vice versa. Right?"

Lexa nodded. "Of course, but I still need to at least feel like I'm contributing," she stated. "Really though, money isn't even the biggest concern. I don't know how long it will take to even find a position out here. The longer I'm out of the job, the harder it would be and the worse it would look."

Clarke sighed because she knew Lexa had a point. "You're right. I just hate this."

Lexa opened her arms and Clarke fell into them. "I know. I do too."

"We'll make it through," Clarke said with conviction. There really wasn't an alternative in her mind.

Lexa placed a kiss on the top of Clarke's head. "We will. We're so close now. I'll be home permanently soon. I promise." Because home was wherever Clarke and Avery were.

"Since we're talking our careers. There's something I've been thinking about and I wanted to run it past you."

Lexa nodded her head for Clarke to continue. "I've been floating with the idea of switching to maybe family medicine or maybe pediatrics. I grew up around surgeons, so I always thought that's where I wanted to go. I do enjoy surgery and saving lives. But I just keep wondering if it's where I'm meant to be."

"I can't really tell you what to do."

"No, but I want your opinion. I could have more normal hours, no more long or overnight shifts. I'd be home more if we have more kids."

"I'll be honest, that sounds so good to me. I'll never reject more time with you. More time as a family when the times come will also be welcome. But we've made it through your sporadic shifts before and we will continue just fine if you stick with surgery. I think this is one of those things you're going to have to give some thought to and make a decision on what's best for you."

"Sometimes I really hate you," Clarke laughed. She knew Lexa would never push a decision one way or another on her, just as she wouldn't do to Lexa. But still it was nice to hear her thoughts. She would need to figure out what she would need to do to switch to a general practitioner, because she had no idea. If that's what she decided.

"It's hard being in the same hospital my dad died in too. I mean I grew up wandering those halls so I can push it back. But there are days that it hits me and I have to find a quiet place and just let it out."

"Sweetheart," Lexa sighed. She knew Clarke still had a hard time with her father's death, but had no idea just going to work was triggering her. "Maybe you just need to find another hospital."

"Maybe," Clarke agreed. She was going to have to give this a lot more thought apparently. Many things to consider. A conversation with Avery wouldn't be a bad idea either. Whatever she decided would affect her as well.

"You know, my plan to drag you out here was supposed to be a lot more fun," Lexa teased in an attempt to change the subject.

"If you think I'm having sex with you out here in the open, you don't know me at all," she laughed. "Plus, it's cold."

"I know just how to warm you up," Lexa husked into her ear causing a shiver that had nothing to do with the chill. She then proceeded to show Clarke just how serious she was.

~CA~

The next morning the two women wake up in their little makeshift bed and begin cleaning it all up. They manage to carry everything back to camp without having to make an extra trip. They start gathering things up outside the came and loading their car with some of their things. It wasn't long before Trish made it known she was also awake.

The three women then set to work packing up the trailer, leaving what they'd need for breakfast out. By the time Luke had gotten up they were reading to close the trailer up and get it hooked back up to his truck.

The kids finally climbed out of the tent as their parents were sitting at the small table enjoying their last breakfast of the trip.

"Get something to eat you guys," Clarke gestured to the cereal or poptarts they could choose from.

Lexa had finished eating so she climbed into the tent and started gathering all of Avery's things. Trish joined her soon after and the two women worked to clean up after the kids. "It's amazing how much mess kids can make in such a short amount of time," Trish laughed.

Lexa looked to see Tommy clothes and a few toys thrown all around the tent. Avery's stuff was a little better, but there were still books and clothes scattered in all directions around her sleeping bag.

Once that was all cleaned up the two women worked together to roll the sleeping bags up in tight enough to fit into their bags. "Noticed you and Clarke were missing when I woke up in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, we decided to sleep out under the stars."

"Oh, I'm sure Clarke was very in favor of that idea," Trish teased.

"I can be very convincing when I want to be." Lexa wasn't about to back down. She knew what Trish was doing, but she wasn't going to give in.

Trish just laughed out loud. "I'm sure that's true." She wouldn't tease Lexa to much. Clarke was an easy mark, but Lexa not so much.

It took Luke and Lexa a lot less time to take the tent down then it had to put it up. Folding it was another story all together. In the end, Luke just tossed it into the truck and said they'd want to clean it when they got home anyway.

The kids both managed to fall back to sleep in their respective cars. The trip had obviously exhausted them both. The drive home was mostly silent as Clarke and Lexa held hands across the console and listened to the radio play softly in the background.

When they reached the Griffin home, Clarke gently nudged Avery awake telling her she could go back to sleep in her own bed if she wanted too. The young girl sleepily made her way into the house while Luke and Lexa worked to park and unhitch the trailer. It was due back until the next day and Clarke wanted to give it a thorough cleaning first anyway and make sure they didn't miss anything.

Trish hugged both Clarke and Lexa. "Thanks for inviting us. It was a lot of fun."

"I'll admit, I enjoyed it. Still not sure about the sleeping on the ground though," Clarke added.

Trish gave her a gentle push. "I know that's not true. I heard Lexa can be quite convincing."

"You are so annoying," Clarke grumbled.

"Eh, but you love me," Trish smiled and gave Clarke one more quick hug before climbing back into their truck.

They waved goodbye as the Bennett clan drove away.

"I'm gonna make sure Avery made it to her bed, then want to join me for a nap?" Lexa only smiled as she took Clarke's hand in her own and made their way inside.

She was sad their trip was over, but she was glad she had a couple more days with her girls before she had to leave again. She would just have to make the most of it while she could.

A/N 2: So originally never had any plans to have Clarke question her career, but it popped into my head early this morning and I'm as undecided as Clarke is. So if anyone has any thoughts, lay them on me!