46Meeting Max's Mom
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
"Seriously Dad!"
Bellamy raised an eyebrow as Max threw the pencil down on the counter top. It bounced and clattered to sit against a science book. His son stared back at him with a furious expression.
"I can't believe you. I've sat here for the past hour and that's the story you tell me?"
"Hey it's the truth," Bellamy defended himself, "I'm not saying that you end the report when Harper was pregnant with you but that's what happened kid."
"I know that's what happened-I was there!"
"You were a baby!"
"Not that point Dad!"
The warm smell of lasagne wafted through the kitchen and Bellamy kept reminding himself to take it out of the oven. The story had nearly distracted him but burnt dinner would not be fun. Neither was an angry Max but that's what he had.
"Of all the ways you could have told the story to me, you chose that way? I know you said it wasn't simple but that's a whole new level."
"How exactly?"
Max looked exasperated and he leaned his elbows on the counter. "The story was long; you never really got to the main point and your sentence structures were kind of weak."
Bellamy looked offended and he muttered, "My sentences were amazing." He looked at Max again and the mini Blake just shook his head at his father.
"And that's not even the worst part. Dad, you kept going on and on about Raven and Roma and Harper when we met Mom in the first chapter!"
"Oh I do love to hear my boys arguing when I come home from work."
Both Bellamy and Max turned their heads to see Clarke walk in from the hallway, her doctor's bag in one hand and dessert in the other.
Max lit up and said, "Mom, tell Dad he's being an idiot."
Clarke put her bag away and walked around the counter to leave the cake down. "You're being an idiot," she said to her husband before pecking him on the lips. "It's a trait you've come to love about me," Bellamy responded.
Clarke just hummed as she took the dinner out and left it to cool. Then she sat down beside Max and glanced over at his homework. "Why exactly is your father an idiot this time?"
Max pouted and replied, "I just wanted to know how you two met but he went on this long rant about how he used to be loser and then became this amazing person and that just had to include his relationships with three girls! It was so gross."
Clarke pushed some stray hair from her son's forehead and said, "Honey, I think your Dad was just trying to explain how we made our family. We just want you to feel ok about Harper and her not being around."
Max rolled his eyes and faced both his parents. "Look I get it-we had this talk before. Harper gave birth to me but you're my Mom. That does not excuse Dad's weak storytelling!"
"Say that one more time and no dessert," Bellamy threatened but Clarke silenced them both. She dragged the full notepad towards her, covered in Max's scrawl.
"You write like your father-completely unrecognisable," she commented but then smiled. "Alright, I'll tell you how I met your Dad, while he dishes out food. Now, I think it was about one in the morning during a freezing cold January...
Clarke was so done with the night shift. She may have promised Octavia that she would close up but never again. Her fingers were shaking as she opened her car door and practically threw herself inside. She quickly turned on the heat and the radio. Soft music filled her ears and she put the car into reverse to get out of the car park of the diner. The building itself was in darkness with the street lamps outside casting an orange glow.
Clarke drove backwards, already thinking of the warm cup of tea she would have before bed. The day had just been too long. Her mother had called again and asked about work and school, which had just stressed Clarke out. All she wanted was to curl up in her own bed for a while.
Suddenly there was a screeching of tires and Clarke slammed on the brakes as she finally spotted the other car speeding its way into the car park. The cars narrowly missed each other and Clarke had to sit there for a minute to get her heartbeat back to normal. Then the anger set in.
Letting out a growl, she threw open her door and stalked over to the other car. The driver didn't see her at first-he was too busy looking into the back seat- but eventually he got out as well and looked as pissed as she was. Clarke managed to push the intrusive fact that he was very attractive away, and she frowned at him. "What the hell were you thinking, driving around at that speed?!" she yelled, "We could have hit each other!"
The man just shook his head and bit out, "Where's Octavia?!"
Clarke blinked and took another look at him. He was clearly exhausted, in a shirt and pants that were wrinkled but she could see some resemblance. "You're Bellamy-Octavia's brother."
Bellamy nodded but seemed to have no patience for her. "Where's my sister? 'Cause she's not at her apartment and she won't pick up her damn phone!"
Clarke scoffed and replied, "She said she was staying at Jasper's tonight. It's their anniversary."
Bellamy seemed ready to scream but another sound came from the car instead. The small cries from the backseat made Bellamy dart back over to the car again and open the door. Curious, Clarke walked over to look passed his shoulder. There was a small baby, all wrapped up in a car seat and balling his eyes out.
"There's a baby in the car?!" Clarke exclaimed, "Why didn't you say that before?"
"I was little busy freaking out!" Bellamy exclaimed as he calmed down the baby's cries.
Clarke grabbed her keys from her pocket and shoved them into Bellamy's free hand. "Bring him inside; I'll take a look at him."
Bellamy frowned at her but clearly something clicked his brain because he said, "You're Clarke Griffin, the doctor."
"I will be soon," she said, "Now go and get him inside the diner and warm him up."
They turned half of the lights on, leaving the rest of the diner in darkness. Bellamy put the car seat on one of the tables and lifted his son out of it. Clarke rummaged through her bag and watched them.
Octavia had mentioned something about her brother and his girlfriend Harper expecting a baby a few months ago. She had been all excited to be an aunt. But then, out of the blue, she just shut down about it and never mentioned Harper's name again. Clarke didn't want to ask in case something tragic had happened and despite Octavia's carefree attitude, the girl preferred to keep family matters in the family. But here Bellamy was, cradling a small baby boy to his chest and soothing him.
"Here," Clarke said softly, "Let me check on him for you."
Bellamy seemed reluctant to hand the baby over but eventually, Clarke was holding the small boy. She took in his dark features, all clearly from his father. His eyes blinked up at her and she smiled. "What's his name?"
"Max," Bellamy breathed out, "He's three months old and he had a rash earlier so that's why I was looking for O. I don't want to bring him to the hospital unless it's something serious but I can't be sure if it is or not-."
"Calm down, I can take care of it," she said and laid Max down on the counter. The blanket he was wrapped in cushioned his head and Clarke carefully examined him. She smiled at him the entire time, and even sang a few songs she had known as a kid. "Well you are just the cutest kid I have ever seen," she cooed, "There's nothing wrong at all-Daddy's just worried."
She turned to Bellamy who let out a breath of held air. He sat down heavily on a stool with one arm on the counter. "Are you sure he's ok? Is that rash normal? What about me hitting the brakes so fast- did that hurt him?"
Clarke picked Max up and held him against her shoulder. "He's fine. The rash is just irritation from probably a shirt he was wearing. Babies can be sensitive to that sort of thing. And you didn't stop the car that suddenly so he's more annoyed than hurt."
Bellamy nodded and Clarke practically saw the weight lift from his shoulders. "Look," he said, "I'm sorry about scaring you. I-I got nervous about Max and I just needed to see Octavia for help and I just..."
"It's ok," Clarke muttered, as Max's little head rested itself against her shoulder. Bellamy grinned at his son but when he looked at Clarke again, the exhaustion was still there. "Since you work with my sister, you probably heard all about this."
Clarke shook her head and Bellamy seemed only slightly surprised. "Well, my ex Harper and I were planning our future when she got pregnant. I was ready for a house and kids and I thought she was too. Turns out, actually having a kid freaked her out and after Max was born, she bolted. Last I heard, she's living in the city somewhere."
Clarke shook her head, suddenly angry at a woman she had only met once or twice. "I don't understand how someone could leave this little guy-he's just too cute."
"Yah, he gets his looks from his father," Bellamy quipped.
Clarke laughed softy but she saw the Max was falling asleep. She carefully placed him back in the car seat and tucked the blanket around him. "Keep an eye on him for the night but he will be fine Bellamy."
"Well despite being sleep deprived I don't think I could shut my eyes tonight anyway," he said and he ran a hand though his hair.
Clarke bit her lip and titled her head towards the counter. "I could make us some coffee? There is no point in moving him into the cold again just yet."
Bellamy smiled slowly, in a way that made her insides flutter. Not butterflies through-obviously, that would be physically impossible.
"Coffee sounds amazing right now," Bellamy finally answered. Clarke gave him a small nod and checked on Max one more time before going to turn on the coffee maker.
"And that's how I met your Dad."
Max finished writing his report with a final flourish of his pencil and then turned back to Clarke. "And then you guys started dating."
Bellamy and Clarke glanced at each other with sly grins and Clarke quickly answered, "Well, it actually took us a little more time. We fought a lot but then learned all we had in common. Truth is kid, I always called round to his place to see you and check up on how you were doing."
Bellamy snorted and cut up the lasagne onto the plates. "So really, she was your mom before she was my girlfriend."
Max smiled and nodded in understanding. "So Dad was like a buy one get one free prize?"
"Yah," Clarke exclaimed, "He was like a side dish."
"I do not approve of being called a side dish in my own home," Bellamy protested.
Max startled suddenly and pointed his finger at Bellamy. "Wait! You said that Mom was one of the three women! You lied."
"I did not. I said there were 'at least three girls' and that Clarke was one of them. At least means there can be more."
Max huffed and just muttered, "That was totally misleading."
"What's not misleading is the smell from dinner and the noises my stomach is making," Clarke said as she took a plate, "Put your homework away for now and eat dinner."
Dinner was consumed, the plates were cleaned and Max was sent to get dressed for bed. Bellamy walked into his room to say goodnight and absentmindedly picked up some scattered clothes from the floor.
"You're messier than your Mom and that's saying something," he muttered but there was no response from Max. The kid was picking at his nails with the blankets tucked over him. Bellamy frowned and sat down on the side of the bed.
"What's bothering you? I know my storytelling wasn't perfect but-."
"What did you mean by Harper being the best?"
Bellamy blinked at his son's interruption but Max continued on. "I mean, Mom's clearly the coolest person ever, Aunt Raven is made of awesome and even Roma sounded nice. Why was Harper the best one?"
Bellamy smiled softly and tucked the blankets around Max securely. "Kid, first of all, your Mom is the best but just don't tell her I said that. But Harper was the best out of my ex girlfriends for a very simple reason. She gave me you. Despite all her faults, I will always be grateful to her for that."
Max bit his lip and fell silent. Then Bellamy heard him mutter, "I'm sorry I said your storytelling was weak."
Bellamy snorted and ruffled his son's hair. "I know buddy, its ok. But it is time for bed."
"Night Dad; love you," Max said as Bellamy got to leave.
"Night kid; love you too."
Just as Bellamy was about to shut the door, Max yelled, "NIGHT MOM-LOVE YOU!"
"Don't yell in the house," came Clarke's quieter response, "Love you too."
Bellamy sighed and rolled his eyes before shutting the door. He tossed Max's clothes in the hamper, stretched his tiered muscles slightly and walked down the hall into the living room. Clarke was sitting on the couch with her legs drawn up beside her. Bellamy slid down to sit against the arm rest and Clarke tucked herself against his side with ease. He kissed the top of her head and then looked over to see her reading a sheet of paper.
"Is that Max's report?" he asked and Clarke nodded. "Yah, I made him quickly type it up so that the teacher can actually read it."
The TV was on but the sound was down to let Max sleep. He didn't really want to watch anything so he looked back at his wife again. She turned around to face him and placed the sheet down on the coffee table. "We've got a really smart kid," she muttered, "Not just because of his academic scores either."
Bellamy grinned at the report but shook his head as well. "I tried to tell him the full story but he got so impatient. Raven, Roma and Harper were actually important for how we met."
Clarke pondered that for a moment and then frowned at him. "Yes, I read about the romantic lessons you learned. Raven taught you to go for girls who liked you from the beginning and Roma taught you to not be afraid of committed relationships. Correct?"
Bellamy recognised the annoyance in her tone and nodded carefully.
"Well, I didn't like you at all in the beginning and you said-out loud- that getting in a committed relationship with me was terrifying!"
"Yah, because I loved you so much and I knew it would be a big deal! Why do you always forget that part?" Bellamy huffed.
Clarke burst into laughter and let her head fall against his chest. "Whatever, the point is that you rambled on for too long and our son got irritated with you," she finally said, "I wonder where he got his impatience from?"
Bellamy just kissed her soundly on the mouth and pulled her towards him. Clarke settled against his side and held his face in her hands. "All I'm saying is that we need to cut down the story for the next kid who wants to know how Mom and Dad met."
"Oh, so you want a next one?" Bellamy mumbled against her lips but Clarke just hummed. Suddenly she pulled away from him with a serious expression.
"Wait, we're totally censoring his paper before he hands it in to the teacher right?"
"Oh, totally."
Of course he was going to end up with Clarke! Hope you all enjoyed.
