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Bellamy pulled into the driveway and watched Madi crawl out from under her car. She had bought it last year— although Clarke paid for half— and Raven had insisted she learn how to change her own oil. Absolutely no reason to pay a garage when you can do it yourself Raven had announced the day after Madi drove it home.
“Mom’s at the hospital today,” Madi called when he got out. “Or do you have another load of books?”
“Books,” he yelled back. He popped the trunk and picked up a box, but only walked to the edge of the garage before setting it down. He was moving in bit by bit this summer and he had an awful lot of books. It had always driven Octavia nuts and this time, he was inclined to agree. “You got a second?” he asked Madi.
She wiped her hands on a rag and slammed the hood shut. “Yeah, just wanted to finish this before I leave for Boston next month. But I’m thirsty. Want some water?”
Bellamy nodded and she disappeared into the garage. She came back with a bottle of water and handed it to him, loping towards the porch. They’d come a long way since his first introduction as Clarke’s boyfriend, and even further since those disastrous first weeks of her freshman year, and he hide a small smile.
Madi sat down on the step and leaned back against the railing. “If this is about the foster license, Mom already told me you guys are going to be reapplying for one this fall,” she said bluntly. She was direct, this girl, and Bellamy liked that about her. She was like her mom in that way.
“It’s related,” he said, and his heart picked up and his hands felt clammy. He sat down and cracked open the water. “I wanted to get a feel for your thoughts on something.”
Madi sighed and rolled her eyes. Clarke kept saying she’d grow out of that, but Octavia hadn’t and Bellamy didn’t have high hopes for Madi on that front either. “All right, get it over with.”
“You don’t know what I’m about to say,” he protested, and Madi fixed him with an exasperated look. He chuckled and relented. “Okay, you might. But I still want to do it, okay?” Madi gave a tight nod and looked out over the lawn, but he was used to that. She didn’t like to look them in the eye when they had serious conversations.
“I’ve been thinking about asking your mom to marry me,” he started. “But what I really want to ask is if you’d be okay with me joining your family. You’re the most important person in the world to her, Madi. I want you to know I respect that, and that— that I love you too.” He let out a quiet breath and waited.
He’d talked it over with Clarke last week, and she agreed to let him bring it up with Madi first. He wanted to do it this way— needed to, in fact. She’d come so far, even just in the years he’d known her, but he knew all too well what it felt like to never really feel safe as a kid. To feel like the rug might be ripped out from under you at any moment, no matter how long it had been since that happened. Scars like that never entirely went away. He wanted Madi to feel like she had a say, because she did. He loved them both more than he could ever have imagined, but Madi came first.
Madi chewed her lower lip. “I’ve figured this was coming since Mom asked if you could move in,” she acknowledged. “And when she brought up the foster license, I knew it’d be soon.” She picked at the label of her water bottle. “I was a jackass to you when we first met. And then again when you started dating Mom.”
“You were a kid,” Bellamy said gently.
She snorted. “It was three years ago.” She stole a sly look at him and he saw her eyes were dancing.
“Fine, you were...a little difficult. But I’m the grown up here. I got over it. Besides, you were pretty fun in class.”
A grin flashed across her face but then faded. “When I was little, I used to think— I used to want one of those guys she brought home to be my dad. I didn’t really care which one, I just hated not having one, you know? Everyone else had one, even if he didn’t live with their mom. And I didn't.”
Bellamy nodded. “I know how that feels,” he agreed. He remembered that feeling vividly— a combination of jealousy and fear that you were the reason you didn’t have a father. That was another thing that never really left you.
“They were dicks, though. It’s probably for the best none of them ever panned out, huh?” She stole another look at him and smoothed back her ponytail. “So when would it be?”
“The wedding?”
“No, the other major life event we’re talking about,” she snarked.
Bellamy’s lips curved into a half smile. “We hadn’t talked about it, really. I wanted to talk to you first. But probably soon, if that's okay with you. Makes the fostering paperwork easier.”
With a single movement she ripped the label from the bottle and then wrapped it around her finger. “Then yeah, it’s fine with me. For you to marry Mom, I mean.” She looked up, making direct eye contact for the first time since they sat down. “But only on one condition.”
“Hey Madi,” he said a little nervously when she opened the door. The pizza box was uncomfortably warm on his palm but he didn’t dare make a move across the threshold.
“Oh my god you already know me, Mr. Blake. And I’m almost sixteen, not six ,” Madi sneered.
"Madison ,” Clarke snapped from behind her. “Come on in, Bellamy. And thanks for bringing the pizza.”
Clarke took the pizza from him and led him to the table. Madi flopped into a chair and slouched down, and Bellamy knew enough about teen girls to know a warning sign when he saw one. Clarke shook her head imperceptibly and he nodded back. “How’s Arkadia treating you?” Clarke asked, clearly making conversation for Madi’s benefit. Madi pulled out her phone and ignored them both.
“Pretty good,” Bellamy replied, trying to follow Clarke’s lead. “State testing is coming up so the students are going a little stir crazy and all of us staff are right there with them, but it’s not too bad.”
"Phone away at the dinner table,” Clarke told Madi. “How long do the state tests last?” she asked him, and he took the napkins from her hand and set them by their plates.
Madi kept her eyes and thumbs glued to her phone. “A few weeks,” Bellamy said, and watched Clarke’s scowl gather.
"Madison Grace. Phone. Away,” she ordered.
Madi heaved a huge sigh and stomped over to the counter to set her phone down, and then stomped back to her seat. Clarke sat and Bellamy did too, helping himself to a slice of pepperoni. “How’s US History treating you, Madi?” he asked with as much friendliness as he could muster. He was usually pretty good at getting kids to warm up to him, but he had never attempted it in quite this capacity before. Plus, it was clearly not going well.
“Fine.” Madi poked at her slice. “I thought we were getting sausage.”
Bellamy shot Clarke a panicked look and she frowned. “You asked for pepperoni,” she said, calmly but firmly. “Specifically.”
Madi shrugged. “Whatever,” she sighed.
Clarke closed her eyes as if she were in pain and Bellamy knew they were in for a long, long night.
Bellamy took advantage of everyone else being preoccupied with their conversations to kiss Clarke's cheek. She stopped eating, her fork halfway to her mouth, and smiled at him. Then they had to kiss again for real, because they were married . It had been simple, like they both wanted— just the three of them (and Octavia, Lincoln, Abby, and Marcus) down at the courthouse this afternoon. But Madi insisted on something resembling a reception so here they were with twenty of their friends, in a semi-private room at the Italian restaurant they’d gone to on their first date. It honestly still felt like a dream, that he’d stood in a room with Clarke this afternoon and promised to be a part of her family forever.
Across the table Madi chimed her butter knife against her water glass. Their table quieted down immediately. Madi stood and smoothed down her dress nervously. “Can everyone hear me?” she asked. There were murmurs of assent and she took a shaky breath. Clarke shot her a private smile and his heart swelled at the sight. He loved his girls so much it hurt sometimes, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He draped his arm around the back of Clarke’s chair and she leaned into him.
“Okay, so, everyone in this room knows me and knows my story, but I’m going to tell it anyway.” A pink blotch appeared on her neck but Madi never let her nerves stop her. “It’s no secret that for a long time my life was kind of, well, shitty. Until I met Clarke. And then I made her life shitty for a while,” she said to a soft rise of laughter. Clarke shook her head but Madi shook her head right back. “Come on, Mom. You spent like, the whole first year I lived with you in meeting with my teachers because I kept getting into fights.” There was more laughter at that, but Clarke still shook her head no and Madi plowed on. “And to be honest with you guys, I thought she might give up on me. I kind of hoped she would, actually, because everyone else already had.”
Clarke sniffed and Abby slipped her a handkerchief under the table. Bellamy kissed her temple while she dabbed at her tears. “Shit, Mom, don’t start crying already,” Madi scolded. “You’re going to make me cry.” Clarke laughed at that and so did Madi, but her eyes were glistening. Bellamy squeezed Clarke’s shoulder comfortingly.
“Anyway, she didn’t. She never, ever gave up on me, even when I tried my hardest to make her. And—” Madi broke off and looked down, the pink blotches on her neck growing bigger. Her shoulders heaved as she took a deep breath. She looked up and tried again. “And that’s when I knew I had a mom,” she said, her voice thick with unshed tears.
Madi cleared her throat and shifted her gaze to him. “And then I met Bellamy. I know you all probably know this too, but I met him first, because he was my teacher. And because I liked to keep Mom on her toes, she met him because I didn’t bother to do some of my homework.” Madi’s voice was steadier now, and the everyone chuckled.
“When they started dating, I...didn’t take it the best, at first,” Madi admitted. “Mostly because, well, look at them,” she said, gesturing in their direction. “They’re like, disgustingly in love. But then I discovered there were some perks to your mom dating your former teacher,” Madi said, her tone changing with an impish gleam in her eye. “Like, he’ll proofread your essays if you ask nicely, and you never have to go to the library for a book again because he owns literally every book in the universe.”
“Half,” Bellamy protested, and everyone laughed.
“Fine. Half the books in the universe,” she agreed. “But there were some downfalls too, like, he totally knows what your big assignments are supposed to be even if he’s not working there anymore, and he’ll snitch on you if you’re procrastinating.”
“I did that once,” Bellamy grumbled good-naturedly. Clarke nudged him with her elbow and kissed his cheek, smiling through her tears.
Madi rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I got used to it, but for a long time, I was worried. I was worried he take her away from me, you know? And Mom’s all I had. I couldn't risk that.” Bellamy’s chest felt tight and tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. “Oh god, are you going to cry too?” Madi teased even as her own eyes gleamed. Octavia sighed and opened her purse to fish out a kleenex for Bellamy with a knowing smile.
“Anyway, now you all know what a mess the three of us are,” Madi laughed and a tear streaked down her cheek. She wiped it away. “I was worried, you know? But eventually, I realized I couldn’t lose her. But I could gain something.” She broke off and looked away, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
“I never had a dad,” she said, her voice trembling. Abby give a quiet sob, and Wells sniffed. A tear tracked down Raven's face and Octavia had hers buried in Lincon's shoulder. Bellamy brushed away a tear and kept his eyes on Madi. “I never had a dad, and after awhile I convinced myself I didn’t want one. Until I met Bellamy.” Madi lifted her chin and squared her shoulders and Bellamy wondered if he would ever stop being in awe of the Griffin women. “When Bellamy asked if he could marry Clarke, I told him he could on one condition." She took one last shaky breath and beamed at him. "That I get to call him dad.” Her chin trembled and he smiled at her through his own tears, so proud and so, so happy. “So if everyone could raise a glass,” she said, picking up her champagne flute that had been the cause of at least three heated family skypes until Madi wore them both down. The rest of their friends and family followed suit and Madi cleared her throat one last time. “Welcome to the family, Dad.”