This Too Shall Pass

Chapter 8

OH MY GOD GUYS! Mark got his lucky flannel back!?! I'm kinda late to the party, I found out yesterday while watching his PAX West panel. BUT OH MY GOD I ALMOST CRIED! I'm going to update the 'I Am Strong' story to mention that. So yeahhhhh. I'm so happy for himmmmm! Thanks SimplEagle for giving Mark your flannel! I fukin' love you!

I sit in Annabelle's and my shared room, staring at my homework for tonight, zoned out and not paying attention. I color a little corner on the paper, munching on some cookie dough Amy made earlier.

"Hey, Claire! Come down here!" Yells Mark, Annabelle looks up. I sigh and stand up, Bean runs over to follow me downstairs.

"Yeeeeees?" I ask, poking my head around the corner.

"Someone's on Skype for you..." he answers, moving my phone closer to the edge of the table.

Brrrring...

I fly down the stairs so I don't miss the call. The only people who would be skyping me is Signe or my friends. Or daddy, but I highly doubt he's calling.

I press the accept button without checking the name and my hand flies to my mouth as I see who is on the screen.

"Hey, Green Bean!"

"DADDY!?" I squeal. His green hair is non-existent, actually, any hair is non-existent.

He chuckles. Mark looks up, shocked.

"OH MY GOD, DADDY!"

"How are you, sweetie?" He asks.

"Well, I'm fantastic now that I'm talking to you!" I laugh.

I stand there for a while as he tells me about what's been going in with him. I smile through tears from hearing his voice again.

"So what about you, how's it feel to be a cinnamon roll?" He teases.

I laugh, Daddy calls Amy and Mark Cinnamon rolls, for some reason.

"It sucks in some ways, but in other's it's fantastic!" I beam.

He smiles also and asks me about my life recently. As I explain I see some men hug Daddy from behind, startling him.

"Yo! McLoughin!" One laughs.

"Ooooooh... who's talking to his GIRRRLLLFFFRRRRIIIENND?" Another teases.

"Are you blind? She's 12!" Daddy corrects sassily.

"Oh... so this is your daughter?" He asks.

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" Daddy laughs.

Both men wave at me with smiles. One man pushes Daddy's swivel chair off the camera frame and I giggle as he groans in annoyance.

"Hey, there! I'm Smith!" Says this 'Smith' character, and then gestures to the other, "And this is Medley! We're Jack's friends!"

I wave and smile. "I'm Claire!"

"So we've heard. Your dad loves ya, ya know that?" Medley says.

I nod. "Very much so." I laugh.

Daddy has made it back to the camera frame and pushes both men away, flipping them off. Annabelle now joins me downstairs and enters the camera frame.

(SWITCHED DEVICES SO THE STORY LAYOUT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT)

"Oh! Hey Annabelle! Awwww, the duo has been reunited!" Daddy laughs.

I nod, smile and Annabelle puts her arm around me. "Hey, Jack!" She smiles. "Nice to see you!"

She's so chill...

"And you, as well." He says, "Anyways... I'm real sorry, Claire, but I only have a little time left and I need to talk to Mark and Signe. Can you hand the phone to Mark?" He asks sadly. My smile falters and I nod.

"Okay, I miss you! I love you, bye!" I wave and hand the phone to Mark. Mark gives me a small smile and rubs my back. I skip away to my room again to finish my homework, with Annabelle following, but I can't concentrate with all of the excitement of Daddy's call.

Eventually I pull out my neon green headphones and plug them into my IPad. I open up my spotify playlist and smile as 'Chop Suey' comes on.

I jam out to my invisible drums, remembering the routine from when I sat behind the camera during Daddy's drum cover. Photographic Memory is pretty helpful for that!

Finally the song finishes and I shut off my IPad and finally, I can focus on my homework, a newfound determination in me.

I love ya, Daddy!

For those of you who didn't get it, Annabelle is Amy and Mark's daughter, but unlike Claire, Annabelle isn't 12 she is 15. I don't know. I just like the idea of them having a daughter as well, but I thought that having them be the same age would be unrealistic and I want Claire to have Annabelle to look up to. I'm thinking to overlap a future Amyplier story with this one, in Annabelle's perspective so you have two different perspectives on the story.

Let me know any ideas you migh have and I'll add them in.