Clawen • What comes next

|| CHAPTER 54 ||

           

Owen walked over to Maisie, when she was done eating and had put the bag on the floor by the chair. She looked nervously up at him, when he started approaching. All he did was stand by her side and smile down at her, trying to make her more comfortable with Charlie close. Maisie swallowed a thick lump in her throat, as she looked up at her baby sister, who was sleeping soundly in their father's arms.

Owen didn't want to push Maisie into anything, so when she asked if he wanted to sit down, quickly standing up and stepping aside, he thought he might have crossed a line. But when he then thanked her and sat down, she stayed by his side and looked down at Charlie. Tilting her head left and right. She kind of wanted to try and touch her baby sister, but a part of her brain told her not to, that she would end up hurting her. After a minute of consideration, she had almost talked herself out of it, when Charlie grabbed Owen's finger and squeezed. Making small noises in the process. Maisie couldn't help but smile at the noises, she had to admit they were extremely cute. Something about the finger grabbing, made her reconsider the touching. Maybe just give Charlie her hand, it couldn't hurt, could it? The others did it.

Another minute and Maisie switched her weight to her other leg and slowly reached out an arm as she bent down a bit. Owen saw it immediately and carefully moved a bit to get Charlie closer. Maisie swallowed another lump but forced herself to keep going. Before she knew it, she was stroking Charlie's hand with her index finger, ever so carefully.

Both Karen and Owen noticed the smile that appeared on Maisie's face. They glanced up at each other quickly, to see if the other noticed before looking back at the girls.

Charlie started twisting a little and Maisie quickly pulled her hand away, scared that she'd done something. "No Maisie it's okay" Owen told her, repositioning Charlie in his arms. "She's just waking up" When Charlie was all set, she started lazily swinging her arms in the air, as much as she could. Maisie started giggling, making Karen and Owen laugh with her. She reached her hand out for Charlie again and this time, her baby sister took a hold of her finger. Maisie's smile grew instantly. She felt like she was glued to the floor. The pure love she was feeling, made her incapable of moving, even an inch.

As Charlie was holding onto Maisie's finger for dear life, Claire woke up. She was facing the side Maisie was on and a smile quickly appeared on her face when her eyes adapted to the light. Owen looked up and found her eyes glued to their daughters. She caught his eyes and both their smiles grew.

A couple hours later, Claire was sitting in her bed with Charlie in her arms, when the doctor came in to check on them both. After a thorough examination, he gave the all clear for them to take Charlie home. Every face in the room started smiling at the news, happy to finally get out of the hospital.

After everything was packed and they were ready to go, they got a wheelchair to get Claire to the front doors and into the car. As they walked down the hallways of the hospital, Owen pushing Claire who was holding Charlie, Karen behind them and Maisie by Owen's side, staying as close as possible. Karen smiled the whole way, looking at the family in front of her, feeling happier than ever for her sister. Claire had been through more than enough and deserved this happiness and more.

When they reached the doors, Owen left to go fetch the car. "I'll find a taxi and head back to the hotel" Karen said. Claire's head shot up in an instant, almost breaking her own neck. "Excuse me what?" She asked, eyes starring Karen down, even though Karen was the one standing. She looked at her sister confused. "You heard me, didn't you?" She asked, recognizing Claire's tone. "You won't be staying at that hotel. You're going with us, home" Claire told her firmly, making sure that her voice told Karen, that she didn't have a choice. She would get Owen to pick Karen off of the ground and throw her in their car if necessary. "Claire I'm fine in a hotel, until I get a ticket home" Karen told her sister, who just shook her head. "No! You're going with us home" She said again. Karen sighed, knowing that Claire never gave up and would continue this until she got both Owen and Maisie even Charlie if possible, on her side. Even though, Owen being the kind and selfless person he was, he was probably already on Claire's side. "Fine" Karen sighed just as Owen pulled up the car.

He got out to get the baby seat out of the trunk and put it in the middle of the backseat, before Claire stood up carefully and put Charlie in the seat. She sat down in the backseat afterwards and Karen dove in quickly to check on her. Owen walked to the back and threw their bags in the trunk before continuing to the driver's side, glancing back at the other side before he went in. There he found Maisie looking confused, like she felt out of place. "Maisie come here" He called and caught her eyes, motioning for her to walk to his side. "Get in" He said, opening the door for her. She still looked confused and swallowed. "In there?" She asked. He furrowed his brows at her and smiled confused. "Yes?" He said, unsure of what she meant by the question.

On the other side of the car, Karen closed Claire's door behind her and went to sit in the passenger seat. Maisie saw it and swallowed yet another lump, before taking a deep breath and going in to sit next to Charlie. Her panicked eyes looked down at Charlie then Claire, quickly, before turning her head to find her seatbelt. Spending double to time at securing it, to make sure she didn't somehow hurt Charlie.

She might have thought that no one noticed, but Claire saw it all. Smiling sadly at how scared Maisie was. Owen started the car and slowly made his way out of the hospital's busy road.

In the backseat, Maisie was turned towards the window, starring out of it, trying hard to focus on what was going on outside and not the tiny human being right next to her. Claire decided to do something about it and slowly reached above Charlie's seat, her hand coming to rest on Maisie's back. She felt Claire's touch and relaxed a bit, taking a second to decide if she should turn around. She eventually did and found her mom looking at her with knowing eyes. She swallowed another lump, before she let her eyes fall to the floor of the car.

Claire reached her hand up to stroke a couple strands of hair behind Maisie's ear. She tilted her head at the girl and asked. "You okay sweetheart?" Almost whispering it, to try and keep the front of the car out of it. To give Maisie some privacy if possible. The girl forced down another lump, gave a quick nod, blinking profusely. "Maisie" Claire said, almost a whisper again, sounding so sincere and concerned that Maisie couldn't do anything but turn her head to look at her mom. "I just want you to know, that I understand" Claire told her, this time completely a whisper. Maisie nodded slowly at her words and wiped a small tear away. Claire let her thumb stroke the girl's cheek softly and leaned back in her seat. "You won't do anything wrong" Claire then said, making Maisie look up at her surprised. "I know what's on your mind sweetie, and not to be frank or anything but it's a bag of shit and you know it" Claire then said. "I get that you're scared and I respect it, but you won't hurt her in any way Maisie. I can't help you much, only you can help yourself, but I'm here and I understand" She took a second and smiled at the girl before adding, "We all do". Maisie slowly let a smile appear across her face, thanking Claire silently, with the look in her eyes.

So, here's the tea. A game that I've waited 2 years for – Last of a trilogy, came out on the 14. Which means – That I have spend most of my days playing that.

I haven't forgotten about this fic, but I've put writing aside a bit, not that I'm taking a break from it. More like, that's why I've been updating every other day instead of daily. I'll get back to it eventually, but I do have other things in my life than writing fic.

I really hope you understand and respect that!

Much love! <3