Thanks for all of the reviews, follows, and favs! You guys are absolutely amazing in the support and encouragement you give me! So, I hope you enjoy this shameless bit of Bellarke fluff, and I'm so so so sorry that my updating has been so sporadic! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 24

Clarke pulled up in front of the house, putting the truck in park as she waved to her family standing on the porch. Bellamy was asleep in the passenger seat, and she couldn't help but smile and be so grateful that he was here drooling on himself.

From the moment she'd arrived at the hospital that night she'd been sure that she'd lost him- sure that life had dealt another soul crushing blow, but this time she knew she couldn't recover. If she lived to be one hundred she would never forget the feeling she had when she walked into that room and saw him hooked up to all those machines, the noises, and the paleness of his skin.

She'd sat down beside him and didn't leave for four days. He was in and out of consciousness, but the doctors and nurses assured her it was normal as his body struggled to mend itself. It was the longest wait of her life, and she was sure she'd go crazy.

Then one morning she'd awakened to a gentle squeeze of his hand, his dark brown eyes clear and alert as he stared down at her. She'd laughed and cried, kissing him for all she was worth before a grinning nurse interrupted them.

The rest of their stay was smoother from there. Bellamy was transferred to a regular room, and each day grew stronger and more persistent in his belief that he could go home.

It had taken every ounce of fortitude Clarke possessed to put her foot down and insist that he stay until the doctor cleared him to go home. Thankfully visits from the kids made things easier, and Wick would stay and pacify him while she ran home to get a real shower and pack up more clothes.

Raven had been her lifesaver! She took the kids to school, kept them calm through the whole ordeal, and handled the mountain of laundry Clarke seemed to accumulate. Clarke didn't need to worry about things at home because she knew her friend had it covered, so she was free to keep all her focus on Bellamy and his recovery.

When the doctor finally gave the ok, at around ten the night before, Clarke had never been happier. Bellamy's discharge papers were waiting for them when the nurse woke him up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning. Turns out that wasn't such a bad thing since it took nearly an hour to get him showered, thirty minutes for him to eat, and the rest of the time to get the papers processed so they could leave at around eight.

Seeing the house and their family, Clarke was just thankful to be home and unbelievably ready for a good night's rest for both of them. Neither had slept well at the hospital, and she was amazed he could sleep slouched in the car.

She felt a gentle hand on hers where it rested on the steering wheel, and looked over to find Bellamy staring at her. It was then she realized that she was crying, her cheeks soaked with her tears.

"And here I thought you'd be happy to be home," Bellamy said with a soft smile as he tenderly wiped away her tears.

"I could have lost you," Clarke whimpered, the full force of what could have happened finally hitting her. She hadn't really had time to let it sink in over the past few weeks, but now it rolled over her in waves of agony.

"But you didn't," Bellamy said as he pulled her to him, running his fingers through her hair, "I'm here, I'm alive, and it's all going to be ok."

Clarke nodded against his shoulder, taking a deep breath before leaning back and cleaning away the evidence of her break down. She gave him a tremulous smile, taking in his every feature as though she hadn't already committed him to memory long ago.

She exited the truck, going around to help him. He was a little shaky, but much stronger than he had been and his coloring was normal- his skin the baked bronze she loved instead of the pasty white that had scared the life out of her.

The kids came running, all smiles and full of stories.

"Hold it," Clarke said with a shake of her head, "There'll be plenty of time for that when everyone is settled."

"Awww, Mom," All three chorused.

"Yeah, Mom, why'd you have to ruin all the fun," Bellamy asked, his brown eyes sparkling.

"Because you and I are going to bed because I'm exhausted and if memory serves you're the one who slept all the way home and you've got some spit on your face," Clarke said as she wiped at the corner of his mouth.

Bellamy's cheeks heated, "I think you're right, I am a bit tired."

"I thought so," Clarke said as she kissed the place her thumb had just brushed moments ago.

"Ick, Moooom," AJ whined, "Do you have to kiss Dad in public?"

Clarke's eyes widened as she stared at Bellamy, "Dad," they both asked in unison.

"Yeah, Dad," AJ said as though it was perfectly clear, "Dads love Moms, and Bellamy loves Mom, so that makes him a Dad…"

Everyone laughed at AJ's logic.

"You got that right, Sport," Bellamy grinned as he ruffled the little boy's hair.

"Alright, everyone in out of the cold," Raven shouted, "We don't want Dad to get sick!"

Clarke and Bellamy followed the kids at a much slower pace, hand in hand as they entered the house and collided with warmth and peace that came from finally being home.

"Wick, go get the suitcases. Kids go get cleaned up so you can help me with supper," Raven ordered before turning to Clarke and Bellamy, "And you two get straight to bed before you both fall over…"

"I don't think I'll argue with that," Bellamy wheezed, "I'm bushed."

"I'll get him settled and be down to-" Clarke began before Raven cut her off.

"Nope, you're going to rest too," the brunette said as she gently pushed them to the stairs, "I'll bring supper to you."

"Thanks, Rae," Clarke smiled, taking Bellamy's hand.

"You're welcome, now scoot," Raven said in mock severity.

Clarke helped Bellamy up the stairs, both of them winded by the time they reached the top. She led him into her bedroom where they both sat down on the edge of the bed in silence as they caught their breath.

"I think I could sleep for a week," Bellamy said, his eyes drooping.

"You probably need to. As silly as it sounds, hospitals aren't really a great place to rest," Clarke replied squeezing his hand.

"You look a bit worn yourself, Princess," Bellamy said, concern evident in his tone.

"I'll be fine after a good night's rest," Clarke said with a smile, "First I'm going to get this gunk off my face. I never knew mascara could hold up to three days of hospital wear and tear. Good thing I bought waterproof."

"You do look a bit coon-ish…" Bellamy remarked, taking in the dark smudges of makeup.

"Gee thanks," Clarke said with a shake of her head as she headed to the bathroom, "Don't fall asleep while I'm gone!"

After the bathroom door closed, Bellamy lay back on the bed. He needed some relief from the fatigue causing his eyes to burn, so he closed them for what he thought was just a few minutes.

When next he opened them, Wick was bringing in the suitcases and Clarke was fresh faced and dressed in a pair of soft pajamas. He listened as she thanked Kyle with a wave and a smile before turning back to their luggage with a sigh.

"Don't mess with that tonight, Princess," he mumbled still half asleep.

"I'm just going to get you something clean to sleep in and sort out the dirty clothes then I'll be done," Clarke answered, laying a pair of clean pajama pants near him on the bed.

Bellamy groaned as he got up, instantly regretting it when her head snapped around and worry creased her forehead.

"I'm fine," he assured her, "Just a little sore."

After he'd finished in the bathroom, he came back to see that Clarke had neatly separated their dirty clothes by color but not by owner. He grinned to himself thinking he could get used to seeing their clothes mingled together in piles of domestic bliss.

He found the woman herself already in bed, snuggled up and facing his side of the bed. He gingerly lowered himself to the mattress, wincing as he lay down beside her. He'd expected her to curl against him like she always did when they were near, but instead she stayed on her side of the bed unmoving.

"What are you doing," Bellamy asked, rolling to face her.

"What do you mean," Clarke said confusedly.

"I mean why are you a touch me not all of the sudden," Bellamy groused, "You act like I've got cooties or something."

Clarke laughed at this before sobering, "I don't want to hurt you, Bell."

"You're not going to hurt me, Clarke," Bellamy said seriously, frowning when she didn't move.

Before Clarke could even comprehend what he was doing his arms snaked out around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest. She squeaked, trying not to wriggle in her surprise for fear of hurting him.

"You can't do that Bellamy," she admonished.

"Yes I can," he argued, "I'm the Dad, remember?"

Clarke couldn't help the smile that crept to her lips, her body relaxing against him.

"Fine, but tell me when or if you're uncomfortable," she said already becoming drowsy.

"No chance of that," Bellamy replied, pressing a kiss to her hair.

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Clarke woke to something tickling her face. She tried to bat it away, but it persisted and was followed by a deep chuckle she would know anywhere. She opened first one eye and then the other, glaring at Bellamy Blake for all she was worth.

"What are you doing," she grumbled, scrunching her nose.

"Waking you up," Bellamy smirked.

"I see that, but why," Clarke demanded.

"It's past noon, Princess," he answered, her eyes growing wide.

"We slept that long!"

"No, you slept that long," Bellamy replied, "I've been up for hours."

"Yeah right," Clarke ran a hand down her face trying to dispel the sleep that still threatened to pull her under.

"I'm going to take a shower," Bellamy told her, his gait slow and stilted as he walked to the bathroom.

She lay there in the quiet listening as the water turned on. The kids were at school, Raven and Wick were at work, and they were home alone. She should probably get some laundry done while she could. They would need to spend some time with the kids when they got home.

Clarke pulled herself from the bed, walking to her piles of laundry. She pulled her hamper out from the corner and filled it with one load before heading to the laundry room.

After the washer was spinning happily, she decided to see if she could rustle up some lunch. Neither she nor Bellamy had eaten the night before and she was starving.

She searched the cabinets and found two cans of chicken noodle soup. It probably wasn't what Bellamy had in mind, but it was what sounded good. She poured both cans into a pan to heat up on the stove.

When lunch was finished, she carried the tray back up to the bedroom to find Bellamy laying in bed white faced and gasping. She was so frightened she nearly dropped the food before she could set it on the dresser.

"What happened? Are you ok," Clarke asked, rushing to his side.

"I'm fine, I just didn't know how much that shower would take out of me."

"Do you feel like eating something?"

"Yeah, I'm starved," Bellamy said as he struggled to sit up.

Clarke quickly placed some more pillows at his back before setting the tray in his lap. For a moment he just stared down at the soup, looking neither pleased nor disgusted.

"Is that ok," she asked finally.

"Yeah, it smells really good," Bellamy replied, spooning some into his mouth.

Clarke took her bowl and settled beside him on the bed and reached for the remote. She flipped through the channels until she found Bellamy's favorite, grinning as his eyes lit up at the opening credits of a documentary about the Greek Spartans.

Bellamy was silent for a few moments, slurping his soup with his eyes glued to the television before he turned to look at Clarke. The past twenty-four hours had proved something to him that he'd known all along.

"I want to get married," he blurted.

Clarke looked up from her soup, fixing him with a confused look.

"Yes, I believe that's why you asked me to marry you," she said with a smirk.

"No, I mean I don't want to wait anymore. I want to get married as soon as possible!"

Clarke's eyes widened, her mouth dropping opened, "We haven't even set a date and you're already moving it up?"

"I know it's sudden," Bellamy began, "but after all that's happened, I just want us to be together. I want a forever with you, Clarke Griffin. I want to wake up with you every morning, and I want your face to be the last thing I see before I close my eyes each night. I want to adopt AJ, but I don't want to stop there. I want more little blonde heads running around this house. I want a life with you, Princess, and I don't want to wait months down the road."

Clarke couldn't help the tears that gathered in her eyes, "There's just one problem…"

She wanted to laugh at Bellamy's fearful expression as he asked, "What?"

"I want our kids to look like you," she whispered before she claimed his lips with her own.

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