You're My Home

Chapter Three

Clarke is still grinning like a madman when she pulls into her long driveway. Lunch with Lexa! Clarke dances her way to the front door, feeling like she won the lottery. Three hours later, with her entire closet on her floor and makeup sprawled over her master bathroom counter, Clarke is ready. She knows that Lexa will still be in uniform so she didn't want to dress up too much. Clarke settled for white jeans that are just a hair too tight for a mother to be wearing, with a light blue off the shoulder top that made her piercing ocean eyes pop. She slid into her beat up vans to dress the look down a bit but ducked into a gold necklace to draw attention to her cleavage.
~
Clarke was outside the police station at 1:05, telling herself that being a bit late makes her look more laid back and chill. Clarke was currently the opposite of laid back and chill. Lexa shoved out of the station's door once she saw Clarke's white truck pull in. Clarke greeted her with a warm smile and an enthusiastic wave. fuck clarke why did you wave that was too much too soon you dumbass. Clarke mentally slaps herself and then turns her attention back to the model walking toward her. Lexa was still full dressed and even had her gun hanging off her waist, Clarke struggled to keep her jaw from dropping when she noticed.
"How was your morning?" Lexa shook her hair from the tight bun and began to unbutton her holster.
This was getting way too much for Clarke so she turned to fiddle with her phone instead of watching the masterpiece undress.
"Slow and quiet" Clarke smiled and caught Lexa's eye. "Now which way to that deli?" Lexa dropped her holster & gun at her feet and then paused to look out the windshield.
"It's actually pretty close, take a right and then it's on Malibu Street."
Clarke pulled onto the road but her eyes just couldn't stay there. She snuck glances every few seconds at Lexa. Taking in her thin wrists and the way her fingers unbuttoned her collar and the way-.
"Clarke! Pay attention!" Lexa gasped as Clarke nearly hit the car in front of her. Laughing Lexa squeaks, "You know I'm a cop right?" Clarke rolled her eyes but let an amused smile escape from her pink lips.
~
"So how did you and Madi cross paths?" Lexa is munching on her turkey sandwich, smeared with cranberry mustard which she swears changed her life. Clarke smiled at the thought of her daughter, holding her own turkey sandwich with cranberry mustard that she let Lexa talk her into.
"Oh god I love this story!" Lexa smiles when Clarke's eyes crinkle with pleasure, "My cousin, John Murphy, is a social worker and he works his ass off trying to give kids a fresh start. Around four years ago he called me ranting about how not one of his foster families would take this little girl. They said she was hostile and rude and even dangerous!" Lexa coughed with surprise, "Madi?!"
"Yeah!" Clarke shakes her head in disbelief. "Anyway I was going through a patch where I was stuck in a rut. Just doing the same things over and over again. I was bored and felt like my life was being wasted. So I made a split second decision and told him 'I'll take her'. At first he laughed in my face but I did all the paperwork and the house checks and the background checks and six months later I had my perfect girl. To be completely honest the first couple of weeks were hell. I debated giving up at least once an hour. But one day I dragged her out to meet the horses and she just-I don't even know what happened. It was like someone flipped a switch. Suddenly I had this cuddly and sweet two year old. It took awhile for us to get into a routine but now we've got it down and I can't imagine how I survived without her." Lexa's eyes have gone wide and wet, "That's such a wonderful story oh my lord." Clarke chuckles at the sweet reaction, "How about you and Aden? How did he come into your life?" Lexa darkens immediately and sighed.
"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to overstep-" Clarke cringes at her own incompetence, mentally banging her head against a wall.
"No no no no." Lexa reaches out to touch Clarke's shoulder but drops her hand at the last second, obviously embarrassed. "Aden's story is quite sad..." Lexa begins "....five years ago I was on duty, we got a call from a house that said they heard blood curdling screams from the house next door. I hated these calls because they never end well but I had to go. We walked in to the scariest scene I've ever stepped foot on. A man around 60 had a knife in his leg and a bullet in his head. A woman in her 20s lay on the floor, covered with bruises and holding a gun. Then a three year old boy with blood in his hair and a bruise that covered almost half his face, sat in a high chair at the dinner table. The man was dead but the woman wasn't, we rushed her and the boy to the hospital. I stayed with the boy for three days straight in the hospital, learning on the second day that his name is Aden. The mom went through several surgeries but never woke up. After she was pronounced brain-dead I couldn't let this sweet kid have nothing. So I talked to tons of people and pulled a few strings and eventually Aden got to come home with me. I adopted him officially six months later." Clarke stared into Lexa's eyes, somehow falling even harder for the woman after hearing that story. Lexa held her gaze, the air got warmer and the compassion stretched between them like warm taffy. A tear slipped from Clarke's eye and the moment snapped.
"That's a devastating story but I'm so glad he ended up with such an amazing and caring mom." Lexa blushed at the compliment, and turned her attention the crusts on her plate.
"Thank you Griffin."