Chapter 47

The next couple of weeks past in a blur for Lexa, but she couldn't have been happier to be where she was now. She was really enjoying getting to know all her new colleagues. They had all been very welcoming and it was obvious that they were a tight knit group.

Octavia had spent a good deal of time with her, catching her up on any active investigations they had going. She enjoyed the other girl's company. They seemed to have a lot in common.

Working under Anya had taken a bit of getting used to. The other woman took an active part in what her team was working on. Something she hadn't really seen happen at her old station.

She was interrupted typing up some notes by the ringing of her phone. She smiled to see Clarke's name appear on the screen. Octavia gave her a smirk as she hit the answer button. "Hey, sweetheart."

She heard Clarke sigh on the other end of the phone. "I know we talked about possibly meeting for lunch, but I don't think I'm going to make it."

Lexa gave a little disappointed breath but shook it off. "It's okay. I get it."

"I'm sorry, babe. Of course, it would get extremely hectic on my last day," Clarke grumbled.

Lexa gave a small smile at that. Clarke only had to get through the rest of the day and then she was off for the weekend before starting her new job on Monday. "You are almost there. Then we'll have the whole weekend together," she promised.

"I know. Crap, they are paging me. Gotta go."

The phone disconnected before Lexa could manage an 'love you.' At least she got a phone call. There were a couple times when Clarke got pulled into an emergency surgery and wasn't able to let her know. Those days would be ending soon.

She sat her phone back down on her desk but noticed Octavia staring at it from across their desks. Lexa looked down to see the lock screen of her and Clarke showing. She hadn't shown Octavia a picture of her fiancé so maybe she was just curious.

She could see Octavia trying not to look but couldn't stop herself. "Can I see that picture?" she finally asked.

"Sure," Lexa shrugged and handed over her phone. "It's just my fiancé and I."

She watched as Octavia studied the photo. "Clarke is your fiancé?"

She realized she'd never even said Clarke's name to the other girl. Always referring to her as her fiancé. But in her defense, that word made her just a little giddy. "You know Clarke?"

Octavia actually laughed at that. "You could say that. We grew up together. She was one of my best friends. We grew apart when she went away for college though."

"Oh, wow," Lexa let out a small chuckle. "I had no idea. She might have mentioned some of her friends, but if she did, I don't remember."

"It wouldn't surprise me if she didn't. She wasn't ever like extremely outgoing, but she became even quieter when she got pregnant. Of course, none of us could blame her given the circumstances."

The two women spent the next little while trading stories. Lexa could admit she liked her new partner even better now. She could see them becoming good friends as well. "You should come over for dinner," Lexa stated out of the blue. "I mean if you don't have any plans that is. We're going to have a bit of celebration tonight for Clarke's new job."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Octavia would love the catch up with Clarke again. She hadn't seen Avery for awhile either. She'd always had a soft spot for the youngest Griffin.

Lexa waved her off. "It'll be fine. She actually told me to invite you because she wanted to meet my new partner. Obviously, she doesn't know she already knows you. It could be a fun surprise." She was a little excited to see the look on Clarke's face.

"If you are absolutely sure."

Lexa gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure. And bring your boyfriend if you want."

"Alright, I'll ask him. He'll probably be fine with it."

"I'm assuming you know the address."

Octavia burst out in a loud giggle. "Yeah, I think I can remember how to get there."

"Good, it's not a big group, just the Griffin's and then Trish and family."

Octavia was only mildly taken aback. It made sense that Clarke was still close to Trish, but she hadn't thought about the older woman in years. "I haven't talked to Trish for years. Our friend group used to spend so much time at her house just cause she wasn't like a 'parent.'"

Lexa nodded. "I could see the appeal," she admitted. She took her phone back from Octavia had set it. She unlocked it and sent a quick text. "Adding two more to dinner tonight."

It was more than an hour later before she got a replay from Clarke. "Okay. Can't wait to meet your partner," she responded with a smiley face at the end. This was going to be fun.

~CL~

Lexa arrived home from work to find Trish's car already in the driveway. It wasn't that surprising though. She had previously mentioned she'd might just head over after grabbing the kids from school. It didn't make sense to drop Avery off and go home, only to come back.

It didn't appear that Clarke had made it home yet, which also was partially expected. Lexa walked in through the garage which led straight into the kitchen. She found Trish bent over the stove. "Hey, Trish. You weren't supposed to do that," she greeted and reprimanded all at the same time.

"Hello," Trish just waved her off. "What else was I going to do? The kids are off playing and Layla's asleep." She waved her towards the baby that was asleep in the little vibrating chair currently placed on the kitchen table.

Lexa smiled as she hung her stuff up and then made her way over to the sleeping baby. She ran a soft hand over the baby's little tuft of hair. "She's so sweet," she whispered almost to herself. Trish heard her though and just smiled but didn't say anything, instead turning back to what she was doing.

"Where are the kids?" Lexa asked when she realized she couldn't hear them.

Trish used the spoon she was stirring with to point out the window. "They are up in the treehouse. No idea what they are doing, but they've been out there since we got home."

"Guess I should go say hi," Lexa responded. She opened the sliding glass door and made her way out quietly. She wanted to see if she could see what they were up to before they noticed her.

Luck wasn't on her side as Tommy peaked out the small window before she'd even made it down the steps of the porch. "Hi, Aunt Lexa!" he yelled down.

She smiled to herself as her heart warmed. He'd only started calling her his aunt this last week and she was loving it almost as much as hearing Avery call her 'Mama.' She had never dreamed of having anyone to call family even just a year ago. Now she was surrounded by people that loved her and she loved them.

"Hey, munchkin. What are the two of you up too?"

"Just playin!"

Lexa chuckled. Such a Tommy answer. She made her way up the ladder and found Avery was sat at the small table inside. She couldn't tell if the girl was coloring or writing. Maybe it was both. Tommy was sitting on the beanbag with two of his Marvel toys.

"Just playing, huh? Did you get your homework done?" she asked Avery.

"Mama, it's Friday," Avery groaned as if that explained everything.

"Yes, that's true. But your mom and I wanted to take you somewhere this weekend. We can't do that if you have to stay home and do homework."

Suddenly intrigued, Avery looked hard at Lexa. "Where?"

"Well, that's a surprise, but if you don't get that homework done, you won't find out."

"Fine," Avery grumbled.

Lexa held back a smile proud of herself. She was getting the hang of this parenting thing. "That goes for you too, Tommy. If you want to come as well."

Tommy's head flew up. "Me too?"

"Yes, you. But if you have homework, you won't find out the surprise."

Tommy jumped up and grabbed Avery's hand. "Come on. We gotta do our homeworks."

Lexa did chuckle this time as she followed them out of the treehouse. She made her way back inside and sat down at the table next to the still sleeping baby. "Hope you don't mind, I spontaneously invited Tommy on our surprise outing tomorrow. It got them both to do their homework though." Clarke had already told Trish where they were planning to go, so she didn't need to say where and accidentally have one of the kids hear them.

Trish turned to look at her, but then turned back. "No, we didn't have any plans tomorrow. If you're sure about taking him, it's fine."

"Of course. You and Layla are invited too, obviously. I'll totally understand though if you want to stay home with her."

Trish mulled it over for a minute. "I'll get back to you on that."

"On what?" Clarke asked as she came through the door. "Hey, babe," she greeted, giving Lexa a quick peck. "And baby," she finished with a caress on the baby's soft head.

"And I'm chopped liver," Trish jested.

Clarke laughed but walked over and gave her a one-armed hug. "Nah. And that smells delicious." After another moment she went back over and sat down beside Lexa. "So, what did I miss?"

"Your girl here, invited my son to come with you tomorrow and then asked me if it was okay," Trish smirked. She wasn't upset, in fact it just showed her how much Lexa was becoming a part of the family.

"You did?" Clarke turned to stare at Lexa.

"It got them to do their homework," Lexa just answered as if that explained everything.

"She also invited me and Layla as an afterthought."

"Either way, we'll take Tommy with us, but yes if Trish wants to come, of course she's invited," Lexa explained.

The conversation was put on hold when the doorbell rang. "That will be my new partner. Come, answer the door with me," Lexa held her hand out to Clarke.

Clarke gave Lexa a questioning look, but let the other woman lead her towards the front of the house. Even weirder, Lexa didn't make a move to open the door, but instead gestured for Clarke to do it.

Still wondering about the odd behavior, Clarke open the door to greet their new guests. "Hello, it's nice to…" she started before realizing who was standing in front of her. "Octavia?"

"Hey, Clarke. Long time, no see," she joked.

"What are you doing here?" She paused for a moment. "You are Lexa's new partner?" she concluded. "What a small world."

"I know right?" Octavia smiled and pulled her old friend into a hug. "I saw your picture on her phone today and put the pieces together."

"That's why you were acting so weird," Clarke realized, speaking to Lexa. "She made me come open the door with her. Oh, come in, come in," she invited when she realized they were just standing there with the door open.

Octavia stepped in, followed by a muscular man Clarke had never seen. "This is my boyfriend, Lincoln."

Lexa hadn't been paying much attention to the man standing just behind Octavia until she heard his name. Something clicked in her head as she looked him over. "Wait, Lincoln?"

"Yes?" the young man responded. As he did so he looked closer at the woman that had spoken. "Wait, Octavia told me your name was Lexa," he studied her for a moment. "Lexa Woods?"

"It is you!" Lexa smiled. She walked over to the man and the two pulled each other into a tight hug. Their signifcant others looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.

"We, uh, actually know each other," Lexa started when she noticed the looks they were receiving.

"We were actually in the same group home, before I was adopted," Lincoln continued. "Shortly after, my adoptive parents moved us out to California."

"That's why I never heard from you?" The two had been pretty good friends while they lived together so she always wondered why he just disappeared.

"Yeah, my parents were military at the time and got told they would be relocating just a couple weeks after my adoption was finalized. I tried to call the group home, but they wouldn't let me talk to you or anyone."

Lexa knew that was true. It sounded like something the couple that ran that home would do.

"Why don't we continue this conversation in the kitchen," Clarke interjected. Remembering they'd just left Trish in there cooking by herself. She should probably at least offer to help, but she didn't want to miss any of this conversation.

"Oh, yes of course," Lexa agreed. Clarke led the way with Lincoln being the last one through the door since he was the only one that didn't know his way around the house.

"Look who I found," Clarke said to Trish, gesturing for the other woman to turn around.

"Oh my gosh, Little O," Trish smiled.

"Not so little anymore."

"No, you aren't. Man, this brings backs memories," Trish laughed. Besides Clarke, Octavia probably spent the most time at her house growing up. There were a few other people in their little group, but they didn't come around as often.

"Oh, Clarke, guess who works with us?" Octavia suddenly spoke when she realized she had another piece of surprising news. "Murphy."

"Murphy?" Clarke rolled that name in her head for a moment. "John Murphy?" Octavia nodded her head. "He's a cop?" Another nod. "That is very surprising."

"Surprised me too when he joined the unit," Octavia agreed. Out of everyone they hung out with, he was the biggest troublemaker. "He's really good at the job though."

"Good for him."

Little cries alerted everyone to the fact there was someone else in the room. Without conscious thought, Clarke walked over and lifted Layla into her arms, rocking her gently. "Hey sweet girl. Have a good nap?" The baby wiggled and settled deeper into Clarke's arms.

Octavia moved to stand in front of Clarke a look down at the baby. "Who's this cutie?"

"This is Layla," Clarke introduced.

"My daughter," Trish called from the stove.

"She's adorable. Can I hold her?"

Clarke hesitated for a moment, but then transferred her to Octavia's arms. She missed the baby almost as soon as she was gone. Her baby fever was getting out of control. She knew she was pouting when she saw the smirk on Lexa's face.

She shrugged it off and went over to help Trish. That was her original intent on moving the party to this room after all.

"It's so crazy," Lexa suddenly blurted. "That you and I are both here." Like of all the places in the country that they would not only end up in the same city after all these years, but also happen to date another set of friends.

"The world works in mysterious ways," Lincoln shrugged. "I'm Lincoln by the way," he called over to Trish who was now that one confused.

"Oh, right. Yes. Lincoln is my boyfriend," Octavia spoke up. "And that woman over there is Trish. Her brother was one of our friends, so we hung out at her house a lot."

"A lot of the kids in the neighborhood did, because I didn't 'mom' them," Trish admitted. "But these two here I think I saw almost every day up until they went to high school and were to cool for me."

"Not true," Clarke denied. "I was just busy with homework." Which for her that was the truth as she had started taking all the advanced classes she could get into. She was focused on her goals by that point.

"You, yes. What about you?" she pointed at Octavia.

"I, obviously, was too cool for you," the other girl smirked. Trish just shook her head and laughed.

The group continued to exchange stories for the rest of the night. Avery just rolled her eyes as the adults were laughing way to hard and Tommy giggled at her reaction. He didn't really understand anything going on but at least Avery was here.

Lexa looked around the room and realized that just maybe, her family would grow again.