Hellooo! Thanks so much for the positive responses you have all given me! You have all made me ridiculously happy so here have another chapter!
"Do Indie's hairs now?" Indigo asked her Aunt as Lexa pulled her from the bathtub.
"Yeah Let me dry you off first and then we can do your hair" Lexa answered, wrapping a fluffy pink towel around Indigo who was clapping her hands in excitement. Lexa offered the girl a tired smile. She was exhausted. Before Lexa had become Indigo's guardian she thought she knew what tired was but the exhaustion she felt at the end of a work day was nothing compared to a full day with Indigo. She regularly questioned her ability to care for Indigo, not believing she was cut out to be someone's parent but Indigo didn't have anyone else. She was it.
Their trip to the park had been far from refreshing. Indigo screamed for the first fifteen minutes of their walk until they reached the park where she had been distracted by the ducks or 'quak quaks' as she called them. Lexa corrected her several times, reminding her they were called ducks, Indigo ignored her. The peace was short lived as the tantrum resumed when Lexa announced that it was time to go home. Indigo proceeded to cry all the way home wailing that she 'loved the park' and wanted her quak quaks back.
"Okay let's put on your pajamas and then I'll do your hair."
"Princess jammies?" Indigo asked.
"Yeah Princess jammies". Lexa carried Indigo through to her bedroom and helped her change into her favorite princess pajamas.
"Okay sit on your bed and I'll do your hair" Lexa instructed. Indigo crawled to the edge of her bed, a wide smile on her face. Lexa ran a brush through Indigo's long brown hair that had a slight curl to it. With practiced fingers she quickly wove several braids into the girl's hair, memories of Anya doing the same for her flashing through her mind. She swallowed back her feelings, eyes narrowing as she tried to focus on her present task and not the memories that constantly haunted her.
"All done"
"Yay! Now Indie look like Auntie!"Indigo said with glee as she ran her small hands over her hair, feeling the braids.
"Yeah, very pretty, come on then you can watch Frozen while I make dinner"
"Okay!" Indigo agreed happily, running from the room, Lexa trailing slowly behind.
Clarke sat on the pull-out sofa that had been her makeshift bed for almost a month. She stared at the new number in her phone, trying to work up the courage to press call. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it was hardly the first important phone call she had ever needed to make. However she wasn't the same person she had been six months ago, a lot had happened and a lot had changed. Clarke desperately needed to find work. She had dropped out of med school two months ago to pursue an arts degree. Her mother had not been at all pleased, she had stopped talking to her and cut her off financially. At the same time Clarke had also ended her relationship with her long term boyfriend, Finn. It had been messy and Clarke had to move out of their shared apartment. Ever since she had been relying on her friends Octavia and Raven for support. It turned out that no one wanted to higher a med school drop out that had never had a job before. Up until recently Clarke had been destined to be a doctor, just like her Mother. Her parents had ensured that she was financially taken care of so she could focus on her studies. In return Clarke was expected to maintain good grades, something she had always done.
When she had told her Mother she was quitting med school, her mother flipped out. She told Clarke that if she left med school she would no longer support her. Clarke hated disappointing her Mother but after everything that had happened over the last six months she knew there was no way she could continue studying medicine. That's how she had ended up sleeping on Octavia and Raven's sofa staring at her phone.
With a deep breath she finally hit the call button and brought the phone to her ear. The phone rang momentarily, Clarke biting her lip and shaking her leg in anticipation.
"Hello" A voice finally answered. Clarke opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. "Hello?" The voice asked again. Clarke ripped the phone away from her ear and hung up.
"Ugh good going Clarke, real mature" She face palmed herself, groaning at her own childish behavior. "Twenty seconds of insane courage, come on Clarke you can do this" She psyched herself up again, sitting taller on the sofa with new determination, before tapping call. This time the phone only rang for a short time before someone answered.
"Who is this?" The voice demanded making Clarke's stomach lurch.
"Ah, hi my name is Clarke, I'm looking for Lexa"
"What do you want?" The voice asked impatiently.
"Oh um Octavia gave me your number she said you were looking for a nanny" Clarke cringed at her own awkwardness.
"Oh, hello Clarke." Lexa's voice softened slightly as she realized who the other woman was. "Lincoln has informed me that you may be a suitable candidate for the position I am looking to fill."
"I, ah hope so"
"He spoke very highly of you and said you are very good with children, I am looking for someone that would be available for three full days and two half days, of course I will offer suitable remuneration and I have a spare room available." Lexa spoke professionally.
"That sounds great!" Clarke crossed her fingers, it sounded to good to be true.
"Very well. Are you free tomorrow for a more formal meeting?"
"Yeah, absolutely" Clarke couldn't help the big smile on her face.
"Do you know the coffee shop Grounders?" Lexa asked.
"Yes I do"
"Good. I will see you there at zero-nine hundred hours"
"Okay sure, I look forward to it!"
"Goodbye" Lexa said abruptly, hanging up before Clarke could answer with her own farewell. Clarke let out a breath, sighing in relief. Octavia was right. Lexa did seem a little terrifying.
Lexa hung up the phone after organizing a meeting with Octavia's friend. She really hoped that his meeting would be more successful than her previous meetings. She was anxious to find someone as she would be returning to work shortly and wanted to give Indigo time to adjust to her new Nanny before leaving her alone.
"Momma?" Indigo asked her head tipped to the side in question.
"No that wasn't your Mom Indigo, I'm sorry" Lexa apologized solemnly. Indigo stuck out her bottom lip and nodded sadly.
"Indie call Momma?" She asked looking hopeful, breaking Lexa's heart.
"No we can't call Momma but we could call Uncle Lincoln." She offered, hoping to distract her niece.
"Yeah! Call Uncle Linky!" Indigo ran over from her spot in front of the television. She pulled herself up on to the couch where Lexa sat, and crawled on to her lap. Lexa repositioned Indigo, getting more comfortable and then dialled Lincoln's number, putting the phone on loud speaker.
"Hey Lex" Lincoln greeted shortly after.
"Uncle Linky!" Indigo exclaimed enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on Lexa's lap. In her excitement she slammed her head into Lexa's chin causing Lexa to bite her tongue. Lexa stifled a grown of pain, her eyes watering.
"Why hello my Princess, how are you?" Lincoln greeted.
"Indie went to the park! And sawd quak quaks! And auntie did Indie's hair just like she's hair!" Indigo spoke loudly into the phone.
"Wow that sounds like fun Indigo!"
"And later auntie's gonna read Indie three books!" Indigo emphasized the word 'three'.
"Two" Lexa corrected, finally recovering from her injury, the taste of blood still fresh in her mouth.
"Three!" Indigo insisted a defiant look crossing her face.
"Fine, if you go and pick three small books" Lexa gave in.
"Yaay! Bye Uncle Linky!" Indigo jumped from Lexa's lap and bounded towards her bedroom.
"The great Lexa giving in, I never thought I'd see the day!" Lincoln teased.
"Shof op Lincoln!" Lexa responded. Lincoln chuckled at Lexa's use of the 'secret' language they had created as kids.
"Anyway what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your sweet voice to?" Lexa rolled her eyes at Lincoln's teasing.
"Are you able to look after Indigo for a few hours tomorrow morning? I know it's short notice but.."
"Yeah of course!" Lincoln cut her off. "Got a hot date?" he asked playfully. Lexa rolled he eyes.
"No I am meeting with Octavia's friend... Clarke"
"Oh! Great! I am sure you will love her! She is great!" Lincoln enthused happily.
"Should I tell Octavia to be worried that she has some competition?" Lexa teased her oldest friend.
"Hey! I just think that this is going to work out really well!" Lincoln defended. Lexa hummed in response, sensing an ulterior motive. "Just be nice to her, don't frighten her off" Lincoln warned.
" I'm always nice... well most of the time" Lea grumbled.
"I know you're nice Lex, but you're also a little intense, just remember you're not there to interrogate the poor girl." Lincoln reminded, familiar with Lexa's often abrupt and stoic tendencies.
"Okay, okay I'll be on my best behavior, promise" Lexa sighed.
"Good oh and.." Lincoln was cut off before he could finish.
"READYYY!" Indigo called from down the hall.
"I gotta go Lincoln, Ill see you tomorrow morning"
"No worries"
"Bye" Lexa hung up.
"Chop chop!" Indigo ordered trying to hurry her aunt up. Lexa dragged her exhausted body down the hall to Indigo's room, rubbing the bottom of her chin, hoping it wouldn't bruise.
Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be Clarke and Lexa finally meeting (yay!) I will update sometime after Tuesday (I have a uni assignment due Tuesday blehhh)