Chapter Text
"Okay, you understand what you're supposed to do, right?" Lexa asks her three year old son as they sit on the couch discussing the events of what's to come. They'd been sitting here for a little over an hour going over the plan.
"I know it, momma." Elijah promises, giving her a huge smile.
Lexa nods, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Go pick up your toys, mommy will be home soon."
"Okay." Elijah says, slipping off the couch and taking off towards his bedroom to do what his mother asked of him.
Lexa smiles as she watches his go, his chubby legs bouncing happily against the apartment carpet as he goes. Knowing Clarke will be home soon from her part time job at the art gallery downtown, Lexa gets up to clean up the rest of the house so it'll be perfect by the time her girlfriend gets home. It's been almost three years in this apartment and everything about it reminds her of the life the three of them have built together and she knows the day they have to leave this place will be one of the saddest days of their lives. This place holds a lot of firsts for them.
"I all done!" Elijah yells a few minutes later, slipping into the kitchen with his blanket tucked under his arm. "I pick up all my toys, even my bear!"
"Good job." Lexa says, giving him a high five. Once she puts the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher, she turns to look at him. "What do you say we go get ready? We can't be late for our reservations."
Elijah nods and grabs her head, pulling his mother out of the kitchen and into his bedroom. "I try to do it but I can't."
"That's okay." Lexa says, lifting him up and sitting him on the dresser before going to grab his outfit from his closet. She makes her way back over to the little boy and helps him out of his pajamas and and into his clothes for the evening. Clarke was going to melt when she saw him.
Elijah stands up (with the help of Lexa's shoulders) and waits patiently as the brunette does his hair just the way his other mother likes. When Lexa is finished he turns to look in his little mirror and giggles, "Thank you!"
"Anything for you, buddy." Lexa said, running a hand through his hair one final time to make sure it's perfect. She adjusts his button up and helps him back down on the ground. "Come on, you can watch Mickey while I get ready."
"Yay!" Elijah squeals, taking off in the direction of his mothers' bedroom and climbing onto the unmade bed, already grabbing for the remote. Having been taught how to turn it on he presses the bright red button and claps when his show is already playing for him. "Come 'side, it fun 'side!"
Lexa starts to get ready, pulling on a pair of slacks, listening to her son sing the familiar theme song of his favorite show as she does. By the time she's buttoned up the last button on her shirt and slipped a tie on, she hears the front door open and Clarke's voice ring throughout the apartment-
"Mommy!" Elijah screams, his show long forgotten as he scrambles off the bed and takes down the hallway, tackling Clarke before she even has time to put her purse down on the counter. "I misses you."
Clarke bends down and picks him up, snuggling to her chest as she kisses his temple. "I missed you too, my sweet boy." She leans back to get a better look at him and her eyes narrow, "Why are you all dressed up?"
"We have a date." Lexa walks into the room, finishing the last knot of her tie. She kisses Clarke softly, "How was work?"
"Dante wants me to paint a piece for the gala next weekend." Clarke says, blue eyes shining bright with excitement. "He saw my stuff at the senior showcase last weekend and wants me to add something. Can you believe it?"
"I'm glad someone else finally saw how wonderful you are at what you do." Lexa said, squeezing Clarke's hip gently. "Go get dressed, we have reservations at 7. Elijah chose that navy dress you look good in, so you can't wear anything else." Clarke looks between the two of them, noticing the way that both of them were biting their lip; it was something they did when they were guilty or hiding something, "What did you two do? Please tell me you didn't flood the bathroom again, our landlord already hates us because of the last time."
"We not flood it, mommy. Go get ready, please!" Elijah said, wiggling to free himself from her.
Clarke set him back down, "Okay, I'll be back in a minute." She excuses herself to go get ready, knowing deep down they're hiding something.
Lexa is playing cards with Elijah at the coffee table when Clarke makes her way back into the living room nearly twenty minutes later; her mouth goes dry as she takes in the beauty that is her girlfriend. Several months ago Clarke had decided to cut her hair short; at first it was hard for Lexa to get used but she quickly learned to love it. "You... God, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." She breathes out as she stands up, the game of Go-Fish long forgotten.
Clarke blushes at the comment and shyly mumbles a thank you as she wraps her arms around Lexa's slim waist. Even after three years of being together Lexa still makes Clarke feel like she was the most important thing in the world (and to Lexa, she is). "Ready?"
Lexa nods, kissing her once more. "Wanna walk? It's just down the street."
"If you're about to take me to Lime Street I might not be able to make it to tonight." Clarke whispers in Lexa's ear as she discreetly palms Lexa through her slacks. Lime Street Steak House was Clarke's absolute favorite place in the world to eat. Lexa swallows and coughs, trying to clear her throat. "I, uh. Yeah, that's where we're going actually."
"God, I'm so in love with you." Clarke says, pressing an opened mouthed kiss to her cheek. She pulls away and looks to Elijah who is too busy playing with the cards in his hands to pay attention to them. "Ready, baby?"
Elijah nods and tosses his cards back onto the table before reaching for his mothers' hands and leading them towards the front door. Lexa shakes her head with a laugh and lets his lead them all the way down the stairs and onto the empty street, the fall air crisp in the night. Lexa holds Clarke tightly, the blonde tucked into her chest as they walk the few blocks to the restaurant, Elijah talking animatedly the entire way, making the night so much better with all the stories he has to tell.
"Reservation?" The host asks, looking up at them as they walk in.
"Woods." Lexa says, tucking her hands into her pockets as the older woman searches for her name.
"Yes, there you are." The host says, a smile on her face as she grabs menus for the three of them. She nods for them to follow her and leads them through the fairly crowded front dining hall towards the very back to a private room. "You'll have your very own personal staff tonight." She starts to set up their dinner table in the small, dark-lit room. "Anything you need, they'll be more than happy to serve you."
"Thank you." Lexa says as she pulls Clarke's chair out for her; she goes to help Elijah into his booster sit but he shakes his head, climbing into it himself with a triumphant smile. She opens the coloring book for him that the restaurant provides so he'll have something to do and sits down herself.
"A private room?" Clarke asks, after having been silent for a moment. She looks at Lexa, an eyebrow raised in question, "It's not any of our birthday's or an anniversary. I'm really starting to think that you did something wrong and you're using food to try to make it better."
"I promise, it's nothing." Lexa promises, interlacing their fingers together. "I just... I wanted to take you out, okay? Can I not do that for my girl?"
Clarke swoons at Lexa's words and she nods, "Of course you can, baby, but you don't have to take me out to an expensive dinner. I'd be more than happy with a burger from Wendy's and some cheesy fries."
Lexa's face scrunches in disgust, "All of that is processed junk, Clarke. I already hate that you put it in your body."
"It's delicious." Clarke argues, always one ready to disagree with Lexa's healthy life style. "It kept your son fed for nine months, thank you very much."
"Believe me, I know. I was surprised he didn't come out as a chicken nugget."
Clarke snorts out a laugh, "Oh my God, that was awful, even for you."
Lexa winces at her bad joke, "Yeah, I know. Forget I said it."
The waiter comes to take their order and the rest of dinner goes by with laughter and a family full of love for one another. When they're almost done, Elijah shoves his empty plate of mac n' cheese away and looks to Lexa, "I gotta potty." He says, already hopping down from his seat.
"Finish your dinner, I've got him." Lexa says, resting a hand on Clarke's knee before the blonde can fully get up. She kisses Clarke's cheek and stands up, grabbing for Elijah's hand before they head out of the private room and onto the main floor.
"Good job, buddy. I'm proud of you for remembering to say something."
"Thank you, momma but I really has to potty." Elijah says, starting to do a familiar dance that indicates he really has to pee.
Lexa laughs and picks him up, "Bathroom we go then."
Clarke sits at the table, taking her time in finishing her salad as she waits for the two of them to get back. From experience she knows that sometimes it can be an ordeal and take a little while longer because Elijah has trouble following directions. She's piling dishes on top of one another to make it easier on their waiter when Lexa and Elijah finally walk back into the room a little while later, "Everything okay?"
"I did it without momma's help." Elijah says, his hands swinging back and forth as he stays next to Lexa. "I get a sticker."
"That's my boy." Clarke says, patting her lap. "Come here, we can order your favorite dessert."
Elijah shakes his head and looks up to Lexa, "We do it now?"
Lexa nods, grabbing his hand. "Yeah, we can do it now."
"What are you two up to?" Clarke asks once again.
"I love you more than anything in the world, you know that right?" Lexa starts, slowly making her way over to Clarke. "Not just because of Elijah, although I'm more than happy you gave him to me; we wouldn't be us without him. But because... because you're you. I don't have the words to describe my love for you. Frankly, I don't think a word exists that exactly describes all that I feel for you. You're my life, Clarke-"
"Lexa..." Clarke starts, eyes filling with tears.
"Let me finish, please." Lexa holds her hand up and Clarke nods, signaling for her to continue. "Waking up to you everyday is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Before you, I didn't care about a family or doing all of the things other people do but you changed me, Clarke. Your smile, your laugh, everything about you is the definition of perfection. I look at you sometimes and I swear to God my heart stops beating because you're just... your'e everything to me. I watch you with our son and I know that no one in this entire world has a mother like you. Whether we only have Eli or we have twenty more children, I know for a fact you'll love every single one of them and they'll never have to worry about how you feel. You care so much about the people you love and it blows me away that you always find something good in someone, no matter what. When I have a hard time or I'm not feeling like myself, I know that you'll be able to pull be back.
"You the bestest mommy ever." Elijah adds, finally going to Clarke and hugging her legs.
Lexa pulls a small box from her pocket and gets down on one knee. "I know we've got another semester of school left and that we talked about waiting until after we graduate to even think about getting married but I've been carrying this box around with me for over a year now and I can't keep it from you anymore. I mean what I say when I want forever with you. So, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"
Clarke knew it was coming. Lexa was a hell of a romantic but the pieces had clicked together by the time Lexa had started her speech but that didn't keep Clarke's jaw from dropping at the words. She didn't care that she was crying or that her make-up was probably running (or the fact that she was every cliche possible) all that mattered was that Lexa was in front of her, asking for forever with her. "Of course I'll marry you." She says, getting up to wrap her arms around Lexa's neck, pressing kisses all over her tan skin.
By the time Clarke has calmed down, she pulls away to look at Lexa, "What?" The brunette asks, kissing Clarke's jaw.
"I just love you a lot." Clarke says, looking at the ring; her eyes grow wide at the size. "Holy shit, it's huge!"
Lexa would usually scold Clarke for cursing in front of their three-year-old but she didn't have the heart to tell her. She pulled the ring from it's safe spot and slipped it onto her finger, "I love you, too, Clarke. So much."
Clarke goes to kiss Lexa once more but is kept from doing so by Elijah who climbs onto her lap, getting in between them. He looks at the ring, the shininess of it catching his eye but after a second he looks away and to his parents, "Is it time for cake now?"
0o0o0
Almost year later, Lexa stands at the alter with Elijah next to her, both in their matching tuxedos. It's a minute to four and Lexa is getting anxious for the music to start and the double doors to open to reveal Clarke. They'd spent the night away from each other; Lincoln and Anya taking Lexa for the night and Raven and Octavia taking Clarke, the engaged couple not happy in the slightest to spend their first night apart in years. They went with a summertime wedding since everyone would be back in town and even though Lexa would never admit it to anyone, she was glad everyone was together.
"You got this, Lex." Lincoln whispers to his cousin just as the music starts.
Lexa turns her attention to the double doors and as soon as they open and Octavia and Raven have come far enough down the aisle for Clarke to be seen, tucked under her father's arm, Lexa stops breathing. Her eyes fill with tears and she has to turn away for a moment to compose herself before turning back to watch her soon to be wife walk closer and closer to her. Clarke, in her white wedding dress is the most beautiful she's ever seen her and Lexa knows she'll never forget this moment.
"Who is here to give this young woman away?" The minister asks, looking at Jake.
"Her mother and I." Jake says, pressing a kiss to Clarke's cheek before letting her go; he gives Lexa a smile and goes to sit with his wife.
Clarke interlaces their fingers together after she wipes away the few tears that have slipped from Lexa's green eyes, the smile on her face never faltering once. "I love you." She mouthes before the older man starts speaking again.
The wedding goes by in a flash, Lexa barely succeeds in repeating after the minister, too wrapped in everything Clarke. Before she knows what's happening, she's pulling Clarke in for a kiss and they're being introduced as Mrs. and Mrs. Lexa Woods and all Lexa wants to do is hold Clarke and cry happy tears because this is all that she's wanted for so long.
"The reception will be across the street!" Raven yells as Clarke and Lexa walk back down the aisle, all their family and friends cheering and yelling their congratulations. Elijah having been scooped up by his babysitter so the adults could have their fun.
While everyone else heads across the street to the reception, Clarke and Lexa head towards their make-shift dressing room to change into more comfortable clothes and have their first few moments of privacy together as a newly married couple. Clarke shuts the door and turns around, only to be pulled into a kiss by Lexa, who never wants to let her go.
"I love you." Lexa says, pressing kisses down her jaw. "I love you so god damn much, Clarke."
Clarke cups Lexa's cheeks, kissing her softly. "I love you, too. You have no idea."
"You're my wife." Lexa says, blown away, her fingers bunching up Clarke's dress as she grasps her hips. "My beautiful, sexy, wife. God, I'll never forget what you looked like today. I've never seen anyone or anything so beautiful."
"Stop it." Clarke says, hugging Lexa tightly. "Can you believe it? We're married."
"I know." Lexa says, still in disbelief. "No regrets?"
"None." Clarke promises as she turns so her back faces Lexa. "Help me out of this?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Lexa says, lips pressing to her neck as she unzips the dress slowly, taking her time to worship every part of skin that becomes exposed.
They forget about the people waiting for them across the street.
Forty-five minutes later Clarke and Lexa walk into the reception hall, both dressed in more comfortable clothes and guilty looks on their faces for making people wait for them, although no one seemed to care. Everyone was doing their own thing.
"Let's welcome the newlyweds with their first dance!" Jasper yells dramatically from the DJ booth (which was really just an iPod with a playlist of songs that Clarke and Lexa chose). "Oh, by the way, congratulations guys!"
Clarke laughs and blows him a kiss before pulling Lexa onto the dance floor, "You never told me what our first dance was going to be, you know."
"That's because I want it to be a surprise." Lexa says, hands resting on Clarke's hip as the beat of the song began.
Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa's neck, head coming to rest against her chest. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Lexa said as they started to sway to the music.
Hours later and after a dramatic goodbye with Elijah for the week, Clarke and Lexa were on their way out of the country to spend a week on their honeymoon, just the two of them spending their time worshipping one another.
0o0o0
"Elijah, wait. Hold on a second." Clarke says, scolding the five and a half year old little boy who won't stop fidgeting with his halloween costume. "I'm almost done, just give me a minute, okay?"
"Okay." Elijah says, standing straighter so Clarke can finish doing what's she's doing. "Sorry, mommy."
"It's okay, baby." Clarke said, kissing his forehead as she stands up. "You're all done."
Elijah excitedly runs over to the mirror to look at himself in the mirror and squeals, jumping up and down. "Mommy, look at my face!"
Clarke nods, running her fingers through his short hair; the little boy had wanted to be a zombie for halloween and Clarke gladly put her art skills to good use. Using old clothes, a sharpie and some make-up and the little boy was the cutest zombie the blonde had ever seen.
"I can't wait to show Hayley and Micah!" Elijah said of the two-year-old twins of Lincoln and Octavia. "Where's momma, I wanna show her now!"
"Go on, she's in the office." Clarke said, nodding towards the end of the hallway where Lexa was probably hard at work, trying to finish what she needed to before they met up with their friends to take their children trick-or-treating.
"Yes!" Elijah pumps his fist in the air and takes off down the hallway of their new house and towards his mother's office. "Momma, can I come in?"
"Of course." Lexa says, pausing her work as the little boy walks into the room. "Whoa, look at you. Did Mommy do that for you?"
Elijah nods and climbs onto her lap, not caring that he's interrupting her work, (Lexa doesn't care either). "Look at my shirt! Mommy wrote it!"
Lexa lifts Elijah up a little bit to get a better look at the rest of his costume and her eye's grow wide as she reads what's on the shirt: This little zombie is going to be a big brother. June 2019. Her heart skips a beat and she goes to yell for Clarke but stops when she sees the blonde leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. "Is this true? You're pregnant?"
Clarke nods, a smile growing on her face, "Mom confirmed it last week and I know you love Halloween so I thought this would be the best way to tell you. Elijah was excited to help out, of course."
There's a knock at the front door and they hear Octavia's loud voice; she's excited for the twins to be able to actually join in this year.
"I get it!" Elijah says, jumping down and running to the front door.
Lexa stands up, knowing they'll have a few minutes alone together with the kids distracting Lincoln and Octavia and the others. She shuts the door and wraps her arms around Clarke's waist, "We're having another baby?"
Clarke nods, pressing a kiss to her jaw. "Looks like you knocked me up again, Woods. Are you happy?"
"Am I happy?" Lexa asks, shaking her head in disbelief. "I've been wanting another baby for years."
"Really?" Clarke asks, clearly surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I knew it would happen when it was meant to." Lexa says, kissing her softly. "I can't wait to go on this journey with you again."
"At least this time I'm not being an idiot and hiding things from you." Clarke says, taping her fingers against Lexa's chest.
"Hey." Lexa says, giving her wife a look; soft hands cupping her cheeks. "That's in the past. I know things didn't go as planned when we were having Elijah but we wouldn't be here if it happened any other way. I'm here, you're here. We have the best five year old anyone could ever ask for and a beautiful baby on the way. I don't regret what happened in high school because it led us to this, right here."
"If I wasn't already pregnant, that would've done it for me."
Lexa laughs and kisses her, letting her wife know how she feels without even having to use words. After a moment, they pull away, foreheads resting against each other. "I love you, Clarke. Everything we've ever been through, it was supposed to happen, even if it sucked at the time. You're my forever. That's all that matters to me. You, this family, we've got this because we've got each other."