a/n This is really the end of "Child of our Time". Really, it is... Maybe.
I'm still overwhelmed by all the love Child has got and can't believe it won two BFWA categories. So here's a thank you to everyone who voted for it or just encouraged me to write it - and a happy birthday to the greatest commenter of all time. And this a/n wouldn't be complete without saying thanks to Stormkpr, who even in the midst of stressful real-world election drama still finds the time and energy to debate with me about heroes vs legends - you're both, and I hope you know that!
Happy reading!
Bellamy loves telling stories to his grandchildren.
He knows they're too young to really understand them, yet. The twins are only a little over a year old but already full of personality. Selene has all of her mother and grandmother's wilfulness, while Alex is all fun and games like his father. And both of the kids have Bellamy's own hair and eyes, variations on his freckles and skin tone. He thinks Madi and Yan have done pretty well, really – their babies are about as perfect as any children he has known, other than his own of course.
He likes to think that telling the stories is part of that. It's part of ensuring they grow up perfect, too, aware of the world and of their place in it. He wants them to know their heritage and know the struggles of the people who have come before them.
But on a more basic level, he also really likes the excuse to spend time with his only grandchildren.
He expects that Yan and Madi might well want more kids in the years to come. They're both hardcore into the idea of having a big family – he thinks that's probably something to do with Madi missing out on her family life for so much of her childhood, and Yan losing his own parents as a boy. He's not so sure whether Penny will turn out to be the maternal type – for now she seems more inclined to live a lighthearted life and hang out with various girlfriends, none of them serious. And that's fine too, of course. Bellamy is beyond delighted that they live in a world now that allows his youngest daughter to make more frivolous choices, rather than being burdened with the life-and-death decisions he and Clarke used to wrestle with at her age.
Selene stirs in her cot, starts making a rather demanding noise. Bellamy grins – that's his little girl. And he knows she's not hungry, because she ate just an hour ago. So it looks like he needs to tell yet another story.
"What do you want next?" He asks her, although he knows she won't produce much of an answer. "Odysseus? King Roan? The Emperor Augustus?"
She hums in agreement. Right. One of the above.
Bellamy's mental library is a crowded place, these days. There's the ancient myths and history he used to share with his mother and sister, the movies and books he read when he was first taking up his role in Madi's life, the stories of the great heroes he and Clarke have lived and worked alongside. So it is that he finds himself rather spoilt for choice, in this moment.
He starts with Odysseus. He often does. He's had a soft spot for Odysseus ever since that conversation with his daughter and life partner and sister, all those years ago – that conversation that first made him realise Clarke might want a happy ending with him after all. So for a while he tells Selene about monsters slain and new lands explored, but he focuses most heavily on the sweeter family aspects of the tale – the homecoming, the relationship with his child, and the reunion with his wife.
Selene is still awake by the time the tale is told. Alex is stirring, too, as if sensing that he's missing out on all the fun. So Bellamy tells them about Diyoza for a while, and about Shallow Valley, and about a woman who led armies and tried to do the right thing in the end. Because that's all he will ever want for his grandchildren – that they try to do the right thing, even when the choices before them all look tough.
Thankfully, their tough choices are more likely to be about education and careers than life and death.
Alex is wide awake now. Typical. Bellamy has always been too skilled at engaging an audience for his own good. It's a good job he had Clarke around to undermine his misguided inspirational speeches, back at the dropship, he thinks with a grin.
"What next?" He asks the kids, who are both peering excitedly through the bars of their cots at him. "Alexander the Great? Finding Nemo? Luna kom Floukru?"
No. Here's a better idea. He hasn't told them about Echo for a while – about loyalty, and about selflessness, and about saving other people even when they don't realise they need to be saved. So he recounts that close shave with a Titan, all those years ago, fingers tracing absently over the scar he still bears as he does so. These kids could all too easily see Echo as a slightly intimidating and rather eccentric aunt who teaches archery, he fears. He wants them to know that she was an essential part of her grandparents' story.
And as he tells the tale, he admits defeat. The twins were supposed to be napping, but that's obviously not going to happen any time soon. He scoops them from their cots, cuddles up on the floor rug with them.
This is better. This is what story time with grandpa ought to be all about.
When he's finished telling the tale of the Titan and Echo saving the day, he moves on to Clarke. He often does, really. However much he might like to talk about Roan or Octavia or Diyoza, Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great or Odysseus, or any other figure who has loomed large in his life, Clarke will always be his favourite topic of conversation.
"I'm going to tell you all about the City of Light." He decides, cuddling Alex on his lap, watching carefully as Selene does slow laps of the rug. "Your grandma was the hero of the City of Light, you know. She was so brave. We were trapped in the -"
"Have I ever told you that you sound obsessed with me?" Clarke's voice surprises him, coming from the doorway behind his back.
He jumps a little, cranes to look at her. "I didn't hear you come in."
She smiles slightly, comes to sit beside him and reach out her arms for Alex. "You never do. Is your hearing going, old man?"
He snorts. He's not that old, and neither is she. You end up becoming grandparents pretty young when your eldest daughter is a miraculous time travel baby.
"I think you just like sneaking up on me." He suggests instead.
"Maybe."
She leans into his side, cuddles him close even as she holds Alex, too. And then yet again, it seems that one twin senses that they are missing out on the other's fun, and so Selene scoots over to join them.
"Really, though, you do seem to talk about me a lot." Clarke murmurs.
Bellamy laughs. "Of course I do. Fifteen years on and I still can't believe how lucky I got."
She grins, presses a kiss to his cheek. It's a bit messy because the smile is stretching her mouth out of shape, but it'll do, he decides. He's still a bit pathetically fond of Clarke's kisses.
"I think it's cute how you tell them stories of all our friends and family and the people we lost. Like we belong alongside all those myths and legends of yours."
"We're all legends now." He says easily. It's something he's thought about a lot, over the years – the idea that these recent stories are a crucial part of their culture. And that he, too, has lived in a time of heroes, every bit as much as Odysseus or Achilles.
"I see that." Clarke agrees. "I just don't want them to grow up feeling loads of pressure or expectation, you know?"
He thinks about that for a moment. It's an important question, and it merits a well-considered answer. But really, he thinks Clarke is worrying more than she needs to. She still has something of that habit, even after all these years, just as he has a habit of getting emotional about the people close to him. But that's OK – they help each other through it.
"I think they'll be OK. Look at Penny, she's so lighthearted – and she's only first generation Sanctum. These two have years of established peace behind them. They'll be alright. And even Madi has coped fine with leadership, since we stopped having to fight anyone."
She nods, agreeing. She leans even further into his side, pulls the family hug even tighter. He's just on the point of resuming his story when there's a knock at the door.
"That'll be my mum." Clarke points out.
"She has manners. She knocks." Bellamy adds cheekily.
Clarke grins at him. "I don't think I need to knock at the door of my own daughter's house."
With that – and with a frankly unnecessary but rather lovely hand stroked over his hair – she heads down the hallway to let her mother in.
Bellamy stands more slowly. He's still not old, not by any stretch of the imagination. But he doesn't run around with the cadets quite so quickly, these days. He keeps an eye on the twins, then greets Abby cheerfully when she enters the room.
"How are we?" She coos, bending down to make a fuss of her great-grandchildren. No one could have imagined surviving to have great-grandchildren back on Earth, he's pretty sure.
Bellamy grins. He's used to being ignored when his grandchildren are in the room – they're much more exciting than he is, after all. And he grins, too, because it's nice to see Abby making a foolish fuss over the kids. She's growing soft in her old age, and he approves wholeheartedly.
"They're good. They wanted story time rather than nap time though." He explains, without bothering to sound apologetic.
"Tough. I'm no good at stories. Unless they want stories about dislocated shoulders." Abby laughs.
Clarke gives a staged groan. "No, Mum. We don't need any more doctors in the family."
Abby laughs again. She does that a lot, these days. "No worries, honey. I'll read that picture book about farming Jordan made them. That OK?"
"You're doing great." Bellamy assures her.
"Good. Now get on out of here, both of you. Madi's at the med centre waiting for you."
They don't hang around to be told twice. They say their goodbyes, throw on their coats, and walk out into the bustling village hand in hand.
It's a big day, today. It's Madi's birthday. And even though she's a grown adult with a family of her own these days, they still make a point of spending this day together every year. They bring Yan along too, of course. Sometimes they even take a few more family members and make a picnic of it. But this year Madi requested a hike to the lake, and so it is that their oldest and youngest relatives will stay at home to take care of each other, and Madi, Yan, Clarke and Bellamy will head to the lake.
"Is it silly that I've been looking forward to this day for months?" Bellamy asks, half joking, half self-conscious as they walk.
"Not at all." Clarke assures him. "I have, too. It'll be good to see them on their own. I love the kids, but I miss being able to talk to Madi properly."
Bellamy nods, and they keep walking. It's a good thing, having an adult daughter with a wonderful partner. They've sort of found a new phase in their relationship with Madi, where she's more their friend than their child. There's honestly no one in this world Bellamy would rather have a drink with or eat a meal with or take a hike with.
Anyone except Clarke, obviously.
They find Madi and Yan outside the med centre, ready to go, visibly eager to get underway.
"Took you long enough." Madi teases.
"Your dad was telling them about the City of Light. Again."
"Hey. It's an important story." He defends himself.
"Did you get as far as the bit where Mum reached out for your hand and that was when you knew you were destined to be together?" Madi asks, with careful emphasis, and with her hands clasped over her heart.
Bellamy gives a grudging laugh. So maybe he does have too much of a soft spot for that particular story.
"I think it's good what you're doing, telling them about their heritage." Yan offers.
"There's more to our heritage than me." Clarke points out.
"Yeah. There's Madi too." Yan jokes.
Clarke laughs, rolls her eyes, looks between the two men. "You two are as bad as each other."
They exchange a high five. Madi giggles and starts walking.
"Come on. We don't have time to waste." Madi points out. Bellamy grins. Truly, this woman is Clarke's daughter.
"That's what I get for joining a family of leaders and heroes." Yan grumbles without heat as they get underway.
"I think you mean a family of legends." Clarke corrects him brightly, patting him on the arm as she strides past to take the lead on the trail. She never has learnt how to take a back seat in life, even after all these years.
Bellamy goes with her, of course. He doesn't want to let go of her hand, so he simply has to keep pace.
"Legends?" Yan asks.
"Legends." Clarke repeats, firm. "We're all legends now."
She looks up, meets Bellamy's eye. And he grins straight back at her, somehow more in love with her even than he was fifteen years ago. He doesn't know how she manages it, really. And he sure as hell doesn't know how to tell her everything he feels for her, every moment of every day.
He bends to kiss her firmly on the lips. That's a start, he thinks. That's a start on showing her that she's the greatest legend of all, to him.
a/n Thanks for reading!