Claria Chamberlin

My Birth

Allen had an early morning so he assumed everyone would still be sleeping. As he walked out the door he was startled when Claria said goodbye. "Why are you awake?" She smiled back at him, "I'm used to waking up early. She sipped coffee and gazed out the window. " Mom and dad still live in the same house don't they? "
" I'm not sure I haven't talked to them."
"oh well have a good day at work."
"I'll see you later Claria" he walked out the door shutting it quietly behind them. Half an hour later she heard Katy wake up puking. Claria hesitated, but walked into the bathroom. "How many days in a row is this?" After getting over the initial scare of Claria being there she laughed and replied "Four days"
"Have you taken a pregnancy test yet?" For a second Katy was startled, pregnant she's not... "No I haven't"
"Ha I remember when I was pregnant with my little girl, I was puking for 2 weeks before I even thought about it."
"Oh really?" then she started puking more, she took the advice. After the puking subsided they went to the store and got a test. On the silent ride home the thought struck her.
"Claria you have a child?" Claria looked at her with her head slightly tilted.
"Ha yes, 2 actually a little boy and a little girl."
"You have children?"
"Yes, but please don't tell Allen. In all honestly I am here to see him to let him know I'm okay, I'm not here to be a bother. I am going to leave soon, and when I do I want him to rest easy knowing I'm safe and loved."
"No, Claria you don't have to leave"
"I do though, my children need me home, I need to be there for them, and Allen has enough going on."
The car was silent.
"I noticed the scars on your wrist."
"My transition was hard I got scared, nothing terrible though,. I'm happier than I have ever been."
"It's positive." Katy walked out of the bathroom holding the pregnant test.
"Is this good or bad news?"
"I guess we'll see when Allen gets home."
"How do you want to tell him?"
"I hadn't thought about it."
"The first time I gave him a card on father's day, and the second we had a picnic and I told him that my stomach didn't feel good, he rubbed my stomach and I told him to lay his head on me, then asked if he could here it. The second little heart beat. You gotta do something fun"
"How about a cake?" Claria smiled and jumped up.
"I'll start making it yellow with strawberry and chocolate still his favorite?"
"Yes". She put it in the fridge and on top it said "Saving for a birthday." When Allen got home Katy asked him to get something from the fridge.
"What's this cake? 'Saving for a birthday'?" He turned around. "Who's birthday?"
Katy smiled brightly. "Depends what name we decide on." his eyes widened as he hugged her and tears came to his eyes. Claria sat in her room writing a note. She left while they were celebrating.

She walked down the street and into town to her parents old home. She hesitated at the gate, it may not be them, who knows who lives here now. When she finally made her way down the path she noticed the nice kept yard, the newly paved path, the up kept flowers, the new paint in the house, and that none of the windows were broken anymore. When she knocked there was a stir inside and in the pause between the knock and the door opening she noticed something on the step. When the steps were originally put in their parents had let her and Allen leave hand prints, they were now filled with paint, but still there.
An unfamiliar man opened the door he was tall and strong, but had a kind face. "How may I help you?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was looking for someone who used to own this house the last name Chamberlin."
"Oh?" His expression turned slightly sad, "one moment. Please come in." She stepped inside and waited as he walked down a hall to the right. When he came back he was followed by a woman. Clara's heart sank. She was actually here. "Hi, um I don't know if you'll really remember me, but I'm Claria." she fought the tears away, or tried and in an instant she was being held tightly by her mother for the first time since she was 2.
"Oh Claria of course I remember you." the woman cried.
When they finally settled down she explained that this was her new husband and that Claria's father had died a few years back though they had been divorced for a while. Her mom turned her live around but her father held her back. She had tried to get in touch with Allen, but he refused to talk to her. After talking for a great while Claria told her mother good bye and gave her a hug. She walked down the street got in the car and drove back to the place she had come to know as home.
"Claria?" Allen walked in the room and his smile soon faded. She was gone.
"She said she was going to leave soon, I just didn't think it was this soon."
"Leave? Leave where?"
"To her family, she said she just wanted you to know she was safe." Katy glanced over Allen's shoulder and saw the note in the desk. "there"
Allen read it out loud. "I'm sorry I have to go, my daughters birthday is soon, congratulations on the new family member I will try to come and meet them some day. I love you and please don't look for me. I am safe and I am loved. For years I remembered you and all you had done and now I have a life to live thanks to you. Enjoy your life and your new family, think of me as the past and let me go. I am back home now where I belong.
Love,
Claria Chamberlin"

(If you want to know where Claria was all that time you can find out in a story soon to follow)