Clawen • What comes next

|| CHAPTER 49 ||

           

Nothing happened throughout the night. Owen had asked if they could get a second bed rolled in so that Maisie could get some sleep. Claire had told him, he needed some sleep as well, but he refused. She gave up, knowing that if he didn't go to sleep in the bed, he would just fall asleep hanging over the chair by her side. Which ever he decided to end up with, didn't mean much to her. She just needed him to get some sleep for the both of them.

Half an hour later, a nurse got a bed rolled in and it didn't take longer than 10 minutes before Maisie was asleep on it. Claire didn't get any sleep whatsoever. Maybe 10 minutes at most. Owen fell asleep for half an hour with his head on her bed, holding on to her hand. Around 6 in the morning, Owen got a call from Karen, telling him that she just landed and asked where they were at.

Not long after, Karen showed up at the hospital and Owen went to the main entrance to meet her. She sighed out of relief when she spotted Owen, leaning against one of the columns. He pushed himself off of it to give Karen a hug before they made their way to Claire's room.

When they entered, Maisie was awake and sitting on Claire's bed. They were talking about something but stopped when the others appeared. "Hi Maisie" Karen said, smiling at the girl, who then said hi back, before making her way over to Claire's bed. Maisie jumped down and walked over to where Owen was standing near the door. "Want to go find something to eat?" He asked the girl, partly because she must be starving but also to give the sisters some time alone. Maisie nodded and they left the room in search of a cafeteria or vending machine. Whichever might pop up.

Karen smiled down at Claire before she pulled the chair closer to sit down. "Hey" Karen said and took a hold of Claire's hand, squeezing it a bit. "You didn't have to come all this way" Claire said tired. Karen couldn't help but chuckle, having excepted her sister to say exactly that. "I know" She whispered back. "But I wanted to" She added, tilting her head with a smile at Claire, who smiled back.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asked with a seriousness to her voice and a sympathetic look in her eyes. Claire chuckled, followed by a sigh. "This is almost as exhausting as running from dinosaurs" She said and Karen shook her head with a laugh. "I bet" She said. Both of them happy that they were able joke about it to a certain extent, even after a second disaster.

The others came back, 15 minutes later. In the meantime, Karen asked as many questions as she could get in. What did the doctors say? Do they know how much longer? When exactly did Claire go into labor? Claire never thought it would stop, if she had to be honest. She knew very well that Karen was just concerned and worried, just like Owen.

When the others entered, Maisie was laughing, looking up at Owen and Claire noticed her quickly stuffing something that looked like a candy bar, into one of the pockets on her hoodie. She quickly erased the cheeky grin from her face, when she spotted Claire's eyes on her. Stopping in her tracks as she looked back at her, scared that she saw, even though it was Owen who told her to hide it. Claire smiled slightly and winked at the girl, who then grinned back before running over to the other side of Claire's bed to be next to her mom.

Owen walked up to the side Karen was sitting on, and bent down to give Claire a kiss, both of them smiling into it. Claire's hand went up to cup Owen's cheek, but it quickly fell down to rest on her belly, because of the lack of energy Claire had. Karen tried to ignore the two of them but it was damn hard when they were as cute as they were. Her eyes travelled from Claire's face to Owen's and then to where Claire had let her hand rest.

"What the hell is that?" Karen asked. Both Claire and Owen looked at Karen confused. Her hand went up to grab Claire's, who's face lost all sense of color immediately. Owen looked between the two sisters, before he realized. "You never told her" He said, not bothering to say it as a question, since he already knew the answer. Claire's lips were sealed shut, as she looked between the two. "I might have forgot" She said almost a whisper. Both their heads tilted to the right as they stared her down. "Intentionally" Claire then added and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the storm that was about to hit her.

"Claire Dearing how could you not tell me you were engaged" Karen erupted, wanting to have yelled but took a second to consider where they were and why. Claire opened one eye to peek at Karen, but quickly shut it again after seeing her expression. "Sorry" She whispered, squeezing her eyes together even more. "So much has happened and..." Claire started, not knowing how to finish and if that was even the reason. Well she knew the reason, but didn't know if what she was currently trying to say, would sound believable enough. She sighed in defeat. "Just give it to me" She said and Owen snorted and whispered. "That's what she said" To himself, making both women look up at him and he realized he probably said that too loud. Claire quickly broke into laughter though, allowing Owen to take in a breath. Karen just shook her head at the both of them. "You two really are perfect for each other" She said with a smile. Owen wiggled his eyebrows at her and went to grab Claire's hand with the ring. "Hence this" He said, before bending down to give Claire another kiss.

Claire got another contraction before Karen could get all her complaints out about Claire keeping such a big thing from her. Karen sat back in the chair with a sympathetic look on her face, knowing exactly what Claire was going through, as Owen comforted her. Rubbing her back profusely and whispering soft words into her hair.

One of the doctors came to check on Claire a bit later, so Karen took Maisie outside the room to give them some privacy. When the doctor left and told them they were free to go back inside, they did. As they entered the room, they found Owen on sitting on the bed, with Claire wrapped in his arms. Karen stopped in her tracks and feared the worst, while Maisie did the opposite and picked up her speed to run to them, needing to know what was wrong. Karen quickly came back to her senses and joined the others by the bed, putting a hand on Owen's back, silently asking what was happening.

Maisie was standing on the other side, staring at her mom in fear. Owen sighed and Karen noticed the tear running down Claire's cheek. "They said, there should have been more progress by now" Owen told as he carted his hands through Claire's red locks. "What does that mean? Is it really bad? What?" Karen asked desperately, needing answers this second. "They said if nothing happens in the next half hour, then they will have to do a c-section" Owen said. Karen's head fell at the mention of the word. "What does that mean? What's wrong, why is mom crying?" Maisie asked, a single tear running down her own cheek. Owen took in a breath of air. "A c-section means, that they have to get the baby out through her stomach" Owen told her. Karen quickly walked around the bed to comfort Maisie when she saw the girl's facial expression. She pulled the girl into a hug and told her it was going to be fine. "Your mom is going to be just fine" Karen told her.

Claire was silent through the whole thing, as she clung to Owen. Her fingers digging into his skin through his Henley. Sighing deeply as she wiped the single tear away. 

"Let's hope this is the last straw of your bad luck, honey" Owen said, kissing her forehead before he cradled her further into his body.

49 huh – Next one – 50

Lucky you – I promised my boyfriend that I make the 50th chapter double the length than the usual, because of the number. You should all thank him even though he doesn't read this lol.