The Breakfast Club - Monday Morning

Chapter 23 - The End!

Monday, September 27th, 2004

"Mommy," Evan crooned, his eyes shut as he snuggled into her. "Read it again."

Claire laughed gently and kissed the top of his blond head, shutting the book and setting it aside. "You're almost asleep, Little Man."

"No I'm not," he slowly insisted, his eyes still closed. But he didn't say anything else. Claire lay on the bed for a while, listening to his breathing as he fell asleep against her chest, her hand stroking his soft hair. Finally, she looked at her watch. It was 8:00. She had two hours left to get some unpacking done.

"Is he sleeping?" her dad whispered as he tip-toed into the room. It wasn't quiet enough.

"Pop-up!" Evan exclaimed, his eyes bouncing open and a sleepy grin spreading across his face.

"Dad," Claire groaned. "He just fell asleep."

Her dad grinned and lay down on the other side of bed, opening his arms and hugging Evan as the little boy crawled into them. "I guess I'll just have to cuddle him until he falls asleep again. What do ya say, Buddy?"

"Read a story!" Evan demanded.

Claire stood up and walked around the bed, handing her dad the book she'd already read three times. "I have unpacking to do, so you two enjoy." She leaned in and ruffled Evan's hair, kissing him on the forehead. "But you calm down and get to sleep."

"Aw, he's just excited," her dad protested.

"Yeah," Evan parroted. "I'm just excited!"

Claire pretended to growl as she kissed her father's forehead, too. "I can see I'm going to have my hands full dealing with the two of you."

"Power Twins!" They called out to each other as she left the room. She smiled when Evan yelled "owwch!" after fist-bumping with his grandpa too hard. "Careful, Bud!" her dad exclaimed. Then his voice droned into the story.

Claire put her hands on her hips and took in the mess around her. It looked overwhelming, but she knew that in reality she was almost done moving her and Evan's stuff in. The trip back to Illinois had been fraught with excitement, Evan bouncing in his booster seat the entire way, beyond ecstatic that they would be living with Pop-up and he wouldn't have to stay in day care all day anymore. The entire adventure had been flawless, which was impressive considering it all crashed together within a few months.

Next week she was going to move her dad out of his dark little apartment in the senior high rise. He was hesitant to move in with her at first. In true Midwestern fashion he didn't want to impose too much on her life. But they could no longer ignore the harsh truth that he couldn't be living alone any more, and when she framed it as though he'd be doing her a favor by renting a small house the three of them could share, he jumped on the suggestion that she could be his caretaker. It was a short-term solution at best. She knew it was only a matter of a few years before he'd have to go into a more intensive care facility, but for now, while his health was still good enough to spend time with her and Evan, it was perfect.

She reached into a box labelled 'closet', hesitating only a second when her fingers wrapped around a picture frame rather than clothes or shoes. Almost reverently, she pulled it out and traced a finger over each of her high school friend's faces. She saved John's for last, her finger lingering over the glass while her mind wandered once more to the reunion. Flipping the frame over, she touched the old photo strip taped to the back.

As soon as she'd arrived back in California after the reunion, she dug out the box that held her high school memories. It held little more than her yearbooks, the detention picture, the photo strip and the plastic crown. The photo strip and picture remained side by side in clear view on her little kitchen table until Evan returned from Oregon. There was no way she was boxing up either again, so she taped the photo strip to the back of the frame and placed them high on a shelf, away from dirty hands and questioning eyes. She could only imagine the questions Evan would have if he saw the photo strip. She blushed all over again just thinking about it.

But she did give him the crown to play with. He proudly carried it to his daycare to show off to his friends, and as she hoped, it was never heard from again. As happy as she was to see it go, she did hope it hadn't broken, imagining instead that it found a home in a dress-up bin full of princess dresses.

She shook her head and pulled her mind from wandering down that same path. She couldn't spend all night daydreaming, she had unpacking to do. Crossing the room, she placed the photograph on the fireplace mantel next to the more recent version. Brian had brought it to her as a housewarming gift.

He'd been in town for work the day she pulled in with the van, so that night he came over and helped her move in boxes. He was wonderful with Evan. He made sure Evan was always "helping", giving the excited boy small items to carry off the truck. He even brought him a bag of chocolate candies and told Evan they were moose poop, making the boy giggle non-stop as he ate.

"He's going to go crazy from all that sugar," Claire admonished him. Brian scoffed and said he didn't believe in that, then watched wide-eyed as Evan descended from excited to manic in twenty minutes flat. Fortunately, Andy and Allison showed up with their four boys to help unload the truck, and one of them was charged with running Evan ragged in the back yard.

The pictures looked good together. As much as Claire had rolled her eyes with impatience at the time, Sarah duplicated the picture almost perfectly. Claire even looked happy and relaxed while leaning back into John's legs.

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, interrupting her inevitable descent into yet another daydream. Pulling it out, she checked the number that came up on the screen, grinning when it showed a local area code. Allison had set her up for an interview with a second-hand fashion boutique that a friend owned. It had been years since Claire had worked in retail, but she had no desire to stay in cosmetics and only wanted a part time job, so this seemed a perfect fit. The woman was supposed to call her some time tonight to arrange an interview.

"Hello?" she chirped in her most professional-sounding voice.

The chuckle on the other end of the line was definitely not a woman. She briefly wondered if it was Nick, but it didn't sound like him, and it wasn't his number that showed up on the screen. "Hello?" Claire said again, with considerably less class.

"Hey, Princess."

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