You Call It Chaos, We Call It Family

Chapter 5

After a three-hour drive, the couple and their kids had finally arrived to Owen's favorite camping site. He didn't know which place Josh had originally set for his camping trip with Mason (or if he truly had one set up), but this one also had a lake where they could fish. Once at the location, he called Lizzie to the side and gave her his cellphone; he wanted her to take photos of Claire while they walked along the trees and up around the small hill over to their destination. He knew that if he did this he would be a dead man, but if it looked like the 7-year-old was just having fun, then Claire wouldn't say anything about it; especially since the blonde girl was starting to show interest in photography and was curious about the different angles and lights to work with.

It wasn't like he was making fun of Claire, but he could predict it would be the cutest thing to witness and that he wouldn't be able to keep his hands away from her and wanted to have all those moments in his camera roll. She had changed into a pair of ripped jeans and a blue and red flannel shirt that matched Owen's before they left home. She had also swapped her heels for a pair of boots. She was wearing a beanie that had her boyfriend thinking her nose had never looked cuter and he couldn't help finding moments through their hike to just pull her close from her belt loops and kiss that freckled nose or give it a light nip.

Lizzie and Mason watched them walk by a fern of yellow flowers where Owen corned her and kissed her lovingly. She giggled watching him pin a few of the small flowers through her hair. The girl standing right beside them was able to snap the perfect photo of Claire hugging her dad from his waist while he lightly bent her backwards and nipped on her nose, the brightest of smiles in the redhead's lips while their foreheads were pressed.

"I love you..." Claire giggled once he brought her back so she could stand straight.

Both kids shook their heads with a smile on their face. Mason's was lit up. He still couldn't believe he got to go camping with his best friend, mom, and Owen. He had the entire ride there to think about how this was the perfect camping trip and it would be better than anything he might have been doing with Josh if he had shown up.

He had been quiet throughout those three hours; they all had been singing along the radio or playing different road trip games, but he had only engaged sporadically. Most of the time he'd been lost in his thoughts. He had just turned eight but he did a lot of growing up (even if forced on him) that day. Claire had kept her attention on her son, watching him frown to himself most of the time, making her wonder what was running through his mind: there were times when she would catch him smiling too. Only Mason knew what was going on inside of him, in his heart and in his mind.

Lizzie had requested for all four to pose for some photos on different spots she had liked on their way to the camping spot. It took them about an hour to make it to the place Owen had in mind now that Claire had agreed to do the full experience, and sleep in a sleeping bag under a tent just like the rest of them. The blonde girl had dozens of photos from the walk up and down the hill alone.

Once at the perfect camping spot by a campfire pit and close to the lake, Owen and Mason teamed up to put together the big tent where the couple would sleep and Claire and Lizzie were setting up the small one for the kids. The redhead had grabbed the guide to read on how to do it and had the girl do it step by step as it said in there: Lizzie didn't complain, since Brenda had a similar way of doing things, so she was already used to it. Mason, on the other hand, had been told to drop the instructions manual: it was for nerds. He found it refreshing to just build it intuitively rather than following instructions – he hated those.

Even if the boys were building the larger one, they finished before the girls. They walked into the big tent and it seemed like they never came out from there. Fifteen minutes went by, and the girls finally finished setting up the small one. "...Guys?" Claire called out, noticing they weren't around. She and Lizzie shrugged, and together they inched towards the big tent and peeked inside: they weren't there either.

Both girls decided to unpack a few things from the big camping backpacks they'd carried all the way there and wait for the boys to come back from wherever they were, while moving things along. Both boys jumped out of nowhere and started laughing as the girls screamed at the top of their lungs, feeling how they were getting their backs soaked with those super soaker guns Owen had gotten for the kid's birthday.

The two boys high fived, watching them completely drenched, and started to circle them, wanting to hit them from the front too. "Nooooo!!" Their victims begged, covering themselves with their arms before they started running back to the trees to hide. Claire ran to her left and Lizzie went right. The boys split, Owen going after Claire and Mason for Lizzie.

Claire was hiding behind a tree, shaking and cold, while her hair was dripping water to the ground. It was late September, after all. She gulped and started to pant, hearing Owen's steps close to her. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands once she saw his frame tall in front of her. The man had the most loving pair of hazel eyes on her. He watched how she was shivering lightly because of the cold weather and the soaked clothes she was wearing.

Owen smiled at her and dropped the super soaker to the ground before inching close and pinning her against the tree, kissing her roughly. She looked so sexy dripping wet. His lips found her neck and gently peppered kisses around it, his hands curious while his rough finger pads traveled up her smooth skin. "Mmm... you are cold." He groaned, his hands cupping her breasts, her bra also wet. "Let me help you warm up..." Owen gently squeezed her soft breasts before he removed her soaked flannel shirt. He brushed his lips down her freezing abdomen and lifted her up for her to wrap her legs around him.

Mason was quiet through the woods: Lizzie was better at hiding than Claire. She would crawl through ferns and fool him around but it didn't take long for him to corner her against a tree and mercilessly empty his super blaster on her.

Both kids had gone back to the camping site; they had promised to behave after hearing Owen tell them a story about how two kids had been doing monkey business in the middle of a camping trip and had been taken to minors' prison for breaking like five laws. Both parents agreed neither of them would get them out of there until they were fifteen if that happened to them.

"Why are you wearing Owen's shirt?" Mason asked, puzzled, now that both adults had joined them back by their camping after about ten minutes. Owen was shirtless with Claire's top in his hands.

Claire blushed while drowning in his shirt and just shrugged, "I got cold so I borrowed it while we came back." She explained, which was not a lie; she just left out how they had sex against a tree about a mile away from there.

Lizzie came out from the kids tent after she had changed her outfit. Owen went looking for a new shirt and put it on, letting Claire wear his other one, the redhead only changing her jeans. Once she came back out from the big tent, the girls went looking for a sunny spot so their clothes could dry. All their garments were under the sun except Claire's panties, which Owen had demanded to keep as a trophy for having claimed her in the wild and in such an animalistic way.

Later that afternoon, Owen and Mason were getting ready to go fishing which was the one thing the kid was most looking forward to on this trip. Owen was sitting with him on the logs by the fire pit; he was explaining to him the different parts of the fishing pole: the fishing rod, lure, and reel and what was each of their functions. Owen mentioned how important it was to make sure all three parts were cleaned. He taught him how to clean them by showing him on his and then watched him do it on the kid's. After that, they put it together, also by watching him do it first.

The part that took the longest was when Owen taught him how to thread the fishing pole, but after a few tries Mason finally managed to successfully get his right. "We will be at the lake, see you guys soon!" Owen called out for the girls who were looking for Lizzie's loom band bracelet kit in her backpack. Claire kissed her boyfriend a couple of times before letting them go.

"I love you so much, you know that right?" She looked up, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

Owen smiled big and nodded, "I love you too, gorgeous." He pecked her lips a couple of times.

"Thank you." She offered softly about him teaching her son how to fish, which was something he had wanted to do since ever.

"Hey, I love that kid so..." He smiled against her own loving grin. "Plus... it's great practice for when you and I eventually have a little boy of our own."

Claire pulled back a little and frowned lightly. "I...um..." She shook her head; she loved her son to death but she hoped it would be understandable why she didn't want to have more kids. "I am afraid the factory is shut down." She offered an apologetic frown.

Owen could see the hurt in her eyes, and with a nod he respected her decision, evidently she had taken it a long time ago. "We will be right back." He said softly and kissed her forehead lovingly before pecking her lips and heading to the lake with Mason.

Lizzie was already waiting on a log for Claire, who had promised to teach her how to make loom band bracelets. She had the tool that would braid it for you and she wanted to learn do them by hand. Claire soon met her and sat next to her. She set the kit on her lap and tucked her red hair behind her ears before looking at the different colors of rubber bands the girl had.

"Okay, pick a color you'd like to start with." She smiled and watched Lizzie pick a pink one. Claire gave her an S-clip, as well as a hook tool, grabbing some for herself too.

"Okay so now you squeeze your little band and stick it inside one end of the clip, so that it forms two small loops on the sides." Claire showed her how to do it with her purple rubber band and then nodded once Lizzie did it with hers.

"Like this?" Lizzie showed with a grin.

Claire smiled and nodded. "Now you take another rubber, squeeze it as well and slide it through the little loops of your first one, and if you can't, just use the little hook to help you pull it all the way through." She once again showed her how, and waited for Lizzie to do it. Claire repeated the steps until they had about seven loops done, and by then the blonde girl was able to keep up on her own.

"Once you think it's long enough, just hook the ends of your last rubber into the other end of the S-clip" Claire instructed. They finished their tryout bracelet in about ten minutes. The grown woman slid it around the kid's wrist and then did the same with her own. "Can we do another one?" Lizzie asked, excited. She really liked doing this.

Claire nodded. "Which colors would you like to use this time?"

"I don't know, which ones are your favorite?" Lizzie smiled.

"Um... how about we make a blue and green one? Or we could just use every color and make a rainbow one!" She suggested. The kid nodded eagerly and grabbed another S-clip.

"So, do you know what you are doing for your birthday?" Claire tried to pick a subject they could talk about, Owen had asked her to try and figure out what the kid wanted to do for her 8th birthday, which was just around the corner. He had spent weeks begging Brenda to let him throw her this party and he wanted to make sure it would be perfect now that his ex had agreed.

"I want a candy bar and a beauty parlor!" She had already thought about this and it was like she was waiting for one adult to just ask.

"Oh my god, please!" Claire smiled while working on her bracelet. "It is about time we get our beauty glow going." She playfully added.

"So please tell my mom to leave the clown out of this one, I am too old for that." She wrinkled her nose. "Besides, my friends are scared of clowns." She frowned, that was a fear she couldn't understand. "And they aren't even funny."

Claire chuckled and nodded. "You know this year it is your dad who is planning your birthday, though." She reminded her.

"Phewww." She was relieved. "He would never do anything to embarrass me in front of my friends. He is cool."

Claire shook her head, looking down. "Have you told him that?"

"He knows he is the best daddy in the world." Lizzie had made sure to tell him so.

"I think so too." Claire agreed. "Do you already know what you are wearing for your birthday?" Lizzie was the kind of girl who had always liked to dress up according to the theme she had picked for her party. For her fifth birthday party she had dressed up as a ballerina and for her sixth birthday she had been her own idea of a princess.

Lizzie shook her head. "I haven't decided yet. Do you think you can help me out with that?" She asked softly. "You always look so pretty and my dad can't stop staring."

Claire giggled and blushed at her observation. "I would love to." She agreed to help her pick an outfit for her upcoming birthday.

Once Lizzie was done with the bracelet, she inched closer to Claire and slid it over her wrist: she had made it for her. The blonde girl nibbled on her lower lip and looked up with a smile.