You're The One

Chapter 17

Clarke smiled. 

"So....," she started. "I think we should get some things sorted out."

I swallowed. Where was this leading?

"When should she be allowed to date?" Clarke asked. 

"Date?"

"Like you and I." Clarke explained. "Have a boyfriend or girlfriend."

I glanced down at Seren. I couldn't imagine her giving her heart to anybody but Clarke and I. 

"I'm not sure." I murmured. "I suppose your age."

Clarke nodded. "I can live with that, although I can guarantee you that she'll want to date before then."

I laughed. "We can cross that bridge we can come to it."

"What about things like her first hunt? When will she start training?" 

"Children start to learn how to hunt when they are five or six." I said. "She won't ever need to worry about catching her own food, so we can wait a year or two for that." I saw Clarke's shoulders drop with relief. "Of course if she ever finds herself lost or separated it's important that she knows how to fend for herself."

Clarke took a breath but nodded. "I know."

"We can train her mentally as early as three winters," I said. "Just as soon as she's able to start retaining information."

"Okay." 

I glanced up from Seren to Clarke. "She'll be alright." I murmured. "She's our daughter, after all."

Clarke smiled and nodded. 

"I'm so excited for this." 

"For what?"

"For her life." Clarke said, reaching forward and grabbing onto Seren's little feet. "For the moments that we'll get to share with her. For the moments that I get to share with you."

I smiled softly and looped my arm around Clarke, pulling her closer to me. I placed my lips on top of Clarke's head.I could already feel that the rest of my life was going to be beautiful because of these two girls in my arms. 

Abby came a few days later, along with Marcus, Monty, Jasper and a few engineers from Arkadia. Clarke said they were the best of the best. I didn't even know what an engineer was. 

Monty was excited about Seren, but didn't try to interact with her. Jasper didn't even spare her a glance. I could see the disappointment roll across Clarke's face when he simply walked off after she brought Seren out. 

Marcus held Seren for a while, but just until Abby demanded Seren back. Abby had fallen in love with Seren in a matter of minutes. Even as all the engineers, Arkadians, ambassadors and generals and I gathered around, Abby held onto Seren. 

Clarke was ecstatic that her mother was so endearing toward the little girl. I could tell that the worry of her mother not accepting her had been swirling around in her head the days prior to Abby's arrival. 

And when I'd come back from a long day, I would always see Clarke and Abby curled up on the couch with cups of tea, sometimes with Seren, sometimes not. Clarke smiled just a little bit more every day that Abby was here. They were rebuilding the walls of their relationship. It made me happy, but I knew the walls of my relationship with Abby were permanently damaged. Abby was ready to sacrifice me for her people—that of which I could understand. I had forgiven her a long time ago, sooner than Clarke had, but I would never feel the same about Abby. 

The Arkadians left after a few days. The plans for the irrigation system were complete and would go into effect as soon as possible. Clarke was temporarily sad, but permanently content. Abby made sure to give Seren one last kiss before she left.  

Three months rolled by. The building of the irrigation systems had been underway for a month. A couple of engineers from Arkadia went to the clans to assist. Raven had them take radios in case she needed to be contacted. 

Seren was growing quickly—too quickly for my liking. She seemed to recognize Clarke and I now, smiling when we came to get her from her aunts or uncles. She laughed a lot, but mostly with Raven and Bellamy. I could see the annoyance on Luna's face when she heard Seren's laugh fill the room because of something funny that her aunt Raven did. 

Seren loved Bellamy and Raven, sometimes more than Clarke and I, it seemed. Bellamy, despite my nerves, was amazing with her. He was a natural with kids. Based on the way Raven's eyes sparkled when she saw him making funny faces with Seren or playing with her, I could tell his love for Seren made her love him even more. 

Octavia and Lincoln were slowly getting used to Seren. Lincoln and Octavia were both a little uncertain about babies. 

While Seren adored her aunt Raven and uncle Bellamy, she was always content with Luna. When she was with Luna, she fell asleep easily and quietly, resting her head on Luna's shoulder. Luna read to Seren and told her stories, even though she was too young to understand. Seren was mesmerized by Luna. Raven was her fun aunt, but Luna treated the little one like her sun and stars.

The natblidas didn't spend a lot of time with Seren, but when they did, they were all over her. Sometimes they expected too much of her, and she got tired out easily. Talie, with her angelic voice, sang to her when she was fussy and wouldn't go to sleep. 

Deacon loved Seren, too, but every once in a while I caught him looking at her suspiciously.  It was like Seren did something to him. Like she hurt him in the very short span of her life. Luna didn't seem to notice, but I did. Every time.