Finding Claire

Meeting Penelope

December 14, 2007 (Berkshire Mall, Pennsylvania)

She was fascinated by all the green and red lights and the music that played the snowman and reindeer songs on constant repeat—seeing all the Santa's ringing bells whenever they went to get food made her happy. To her, nothing made her happier than sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what a good girl she had been this year.

What she wanted the most for Christmas this year was for Mommy to be nice again. Since the babies came, Mommy has been mean only towards her and not the older ones. If she were just as loud as her sister and brother, she would be the one Mommy would complain about. If she did something bad along with them, then she would be the only one in time out.

"Stephen, can you get them to quiet down? I don't want to get out of line."

She looked up and saw Daddy bouncing the crying babies in his arms.

"They need a diaper change, Kate."

"For God's sake, I knew this was a bad idea; the boys are only three months old. It's not like they will even remember their first meeting with Santa."

She couldn't see Daddy's face but knew he wasn't happy.

"It means a lot to Naomi, Nathan, and Claire. Let's get out of line so I can change their diapers, and then I'll take over the older ones for a while in case the twins get hungry later."

Mommy was holding Naomi and Nathan's hand, while she held onto Naomi's, and then she sighed.

"Alright, Naomi needs her shoes tied anyway."

She felt herself being tugged away, and all she could do was whine when Santa got farther away from her sight. She was afraid her wish of having her old Mommy back wouldn't come true if she couldn't tell Santa.

"Stop being a pest, Claire, and let's go."

November 2020 (13 Years later- Hudson, Ohio)

Penny groaned as she emerged from her dream and returned to reality, reluctant to leave the comfort of her queen-sized bed. She hugged her pillow tightly as she thought about the dream from the previous night. It was one of those dreams that felt incredibly real, yet at the same time, it was still hazy, and she couldn't even discern the faces of the parents. She was only sure that the mother in her dream seemed unnecessarily harsh to that one girl.

The dream faded from her mind as her mother's familiar voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Penny, it's 7 o'clock."

Again, she groaned as she placed the pillow over her head. "Mom, it's Saturday, there's no online classes."

"You said you were going out with Kim this morning and asked me to make sure you were up since we both know you'll just sleep through your alarm."

She instantly regretted planning to meet with Kim at 10 AM, as she was not a morning person. Despite not being able to hang out much since the pandemic started, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, she's beating herself up for it.

"I'm getting up," Penny said reluctantly, sitting up and stretching her arms out.

"Breakfast will be done shortly; hurry before your father eats all the Cinnamon rolls."

She heard her mother's footsteps walking down the stairs as she got out of bed and headed towards her vanity table. Penny sighed as she ran her hands through her long, wavy brunette hair, knowing it was long overdue for another highlighting appointment.