Clawen • What comes next

|| CHAPTER 45 ||

           

"And you will be outside the whole time?" Maisie asked, nervous as hell and far from ready to start school. Both adults nodded. "We will be right outside in the car, the same place we left it" Claire said as she bent down to get a better look at the girl. Grabbing a hold of her arms and giving them a squeeze, she pulled Maisie to her. "Its going to be just fine Maisie, I promise sweetheart" Claire whispered before letting go and standing up. Owen pulled Claire to his him, when Maisie walked off to go to her classroom. "She's going to be fine" Owen said softly, when he felt how tense Claire was. She sighed. "I know...I'm just so nervous on her behalf" She said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I know" He whispered, before leading them both out to the car.

An hour in and Claire could feel the boredom starting. Not that she would rather be sitting in a meeting filled with old men who thought they were better than her, purely based on what they have between their legs. Nothing is worse than that, okay maybe running from prehistoric beasts would top it, but that would also be it.

Owen looked over at her from the driver's seat. "Bored?" He asked and Claire huffed out a laugh before she turned her head to look at him. "You think?" She asked. He turned his head forward. "We could always go look around a bit" He said. "No, we promised Maisie we would stay in the car" Claire said, determined to keep her promise. He nodded "I know we did, but she's in class. She won't come running out for the next couple of hours, hopefully not until the day is over" Owen said, tilting his head at her, knowing he was right. "I don't know Owen" Claire said, on the verge of agreeing. "Come on, I'm not saying we're going to drive home, I'm just saying, let's get out of this car and walk around the school or something" Claire sighed, because it sounded good to get out and about for a bit. "Fine" She said and got out, with Owen following her steps a second later.

They walked around the school a couple of times before reaching the car again. "I don't want to go back right now" She said when the car park came into sight. He chuckled at her "We don't have to, lets walk this way" He said pulling her to his right. They ended up in a quite deserted area leading to the exit of the city. No living things in sight at all with only an old shed right before the first trees, could be seen.

Owen got an idea on how to pass some of the time, knowing Claire would disapprove, made him hesitate at first. He stopped in his tracks right before they reached the woods, turning Claire towards him. He slowly dove down for a kiss. She kissed him back instantly and was the one to deepen it. It didn't take Owen long before he picked her up, which luckily, he was still able to do. He started making his way towards the small shed, hoping it could give them a bit of privacy, even though there was no one to be seen. Just to be safe, he thought. Opening the door with ease, he walked them inside and closed it after them, without Claire's protest.

Half an hour later, they came walking out of the small shed. Claire trying to straighten her hair as much as possible so it didn't look like she had just run from a t-rex. Owen walked satisfied by her side, trying to hold to back a laugh at her frustrated sounds. "Here let me help" He said after seeing how much she was struggling with her hair. She sighed and let her hands drop to her sides as he made his attempt at taming her wild locks.

Owen loved Claire's hair, it was one of his favorite things about the way she looked. Even though he knew very well, after all of Claire's complaining, how hard it was to control when it was longer. He still loved it this way, much more than her short corporate cut. Sure, she looked sexy as hell and it had been one of the most intimidating things about her, back at the park, including her fierce green eyes. But Claire with her long red locks and more comfortable clothes, did things to Owen in a different way than the business look she was rocking at the park.

After successfully controlling her hair to the point of it not looking like it had been through a leaf blower. They made their way back to the car, where they waited the rest of Maisie's day out, before the brunette came running out of the front doors full speed, towards the car. Neither of them noticed her until she knocked on the window to get them to unlock the doors. They both turned in their seats to the girl who entered the car with much more energy than she left it with.

Claire looked over at Owen with a grin before they asked Maisie how her day had gone. She starting going on and on about how everyone was really nice and that she had even made a few friends. All her teachers were nice and the students had been very interested in hearing more about Maisie when she told them she was adopted. Claire and Owen looked at each other surprised, having thought that Maisie might have wanted to keep that to herself. "They all thought it was really cool" Maisie said smiling and both adults couldn't help smiling as well. "I'm so happy it went well sweetheart" Claire said and squeezed the girl's knee. She grinned at her mom and then her dad before they turned around and started heading out of the schools parking lot.

On their way home, Claire suggested they made a few stops and got a bit more baby stuff, seeing as it was getting closer and closer and they still had quite a few things to stock up on. After an hour or so of Claire going berserk, they finally made it out of the store. On their way to the car, Maisie was hesitating to ask her parents but ended up doing it anyways. "Mom? Dad?" She said and waited for them to stop on the sidewalk to look at her. "Yes sweetheart? Is something wrong?" Claire asked, having seen Maisie's nervous expression. "Just...Nothing, never mind" She said and started walking. Owen quickly grabbed a hold of her arm and turned her around to face them. "Maisie what is it?" He asked determined to get an answer out of her. "I just...all the kids in school have phones and I don't have one. And I know that's not a reason to get one just because the others have one, but then I thought. If I get one, I can get in contact with you guys and the other way around as well. And" Claire stopped the girl before she could continue. Maisie feared that she had gone over the line and was ready to apologize throughout the rest of the week.

"Maisie calm down" Claire said, trying to reassure the girl that she had nothing to be worried about. "Of course, you should get a phone" Claire said. She hadn't thought about it before, because it had just been the three of them in the woods for so long now. But seeing as Claire still had a buttload of money after Jurassic World and the check she got when everything went to hell, the money wouldn't be a problem. She thought about how it wouldn't teach Maisie to value money if she just got a phone out of nowhere, but she was already a reasonable girl with good intentions. She might have lived her life in a mansion but she wasn't spoiled like most rich kids. Claire made a quick decision. "Why don't we go buy you one now, then maybe we can just drop you off at school tomorrow and then drive home, because you will have your phone on you" Claire said. She could feel Owens' eyes on her but didn't care. Not only would Maisie feel safer and more comfortable, knowing that she could contact them at any point, but Claire herself would feel much better as well, knowing she could reach Maisie if necessary. Also, it would help her fit in more in school and there was no reason to make it harder for the girl, by being the only one without a phone.

Maisie's face lit up like a Christmas tree and she launched herself at Claire. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou" she said muffled against Claire's shoulder. After half an hour in one of the many tech stores in the city, they finally came out with a phone for Maisie. Plus, a phone case, because she had seen a really colorful one while the sales guy went out back to get the phone. Neither Claire nor Owen could say no to Maisie's hopeful eyes. Plus it would keep the phone safe.

As they walked back to the car, Claire asked. "So, was that your other brother?" Owen laughed at her. "No, I only have one brother and my sister lives in my hometown" Claire narrowed her eyes at him. "When will I get to meet her then?" She asked. Owen was rather private about his family and after meeting his brother, Claire wondered what the rest of his family was like. "I don't know, maybe she will come to the wedding" He said nonchalant. "She better" Claire said and bumped his shoulder with her own jokingly.

THIS ONE WAS WAY LONGER THAN THE REST AND IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF.

I know that giving Maisie a phone when she's only 11 might trigger some people. Also, just giving her one because she asked for it. So, I tried to give my reasons for why I did it. If she was my kid, it would make a lot of sense and I would also have said yes if I had the money. You are of course free to think whatever you want and have your own opinions, I don't judge and I hope you don't judge me either. Even though I really don't care what people think – it's really hard to offend me so pfff.

Hoped ya liked it folks.