Clawen • What comes next

|| CHAPTER 85 ||

Later on, in the day, Claire and Owen started making dinner. The two older girls were upstairs unlike Charlie, who was sat in her chair in the kitchen. She had started making it a habit to wander off, every second either parent took their eyes off of her. Claire was too paranoid to have Charlie run around the house when she was as young as she was. Having her in one place calmed her nerves, as well as it send looks her way from Owen. He knew why and didn't question it, but he still found it a bit ridiculous. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Claire that.

After a bit of time, the dinner was done and the table was set. Claire walked up the stairs and knocked on Maisie's door, to call them down. She didn't want to disturb or interrupt anything. She even refrained from peaking her head through the door, wanting to give them some privacy and wanting Maisie to feel like she had some.

While eating dinner, the conversation from earlier pretty much carried on. Maisie was more talkative this time, after having spend some time alone with Alex. Having had time for her mind to assemble back into one piece. Nothing out of the ordinary was said or asked and it made everyone at the table forget what had happened earlier. The big moment that they all went through just hours prior.

Alex put down her knife and leaned back slightly, tilting her head a bit at the same time. She looked between Claire and Owen for a moment, narrowing her eyes in the process. "I feel like I've seen you guys before" She then said, catching everyone off guard.

Claire and Owen turned to each other quickly. All four eyes were back on Alex the next second though, just like Maisie's. She swallowed and waited for her parents to break the ice. Open the casket, spill the tea. Claire smiled politely back at Alex, having been told that exact thing more times than she could count. Owen put on a smile as well and looked over at Claire, figuring she would be taking this one.

"Are you actors?" Alex then asked after no words had been said. Both adults chuckled slightly, leaning back in their chairs. "No, we're not" Claire laughed. Alex's mouth shot to the side, as her eyes darted between them. "News reporters?" She then asked, making everyone chuckled again, even herself. Alex leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I'm blank" She then said and chuckled with shake of her head. Claire and Owen shared a look and switched their point of view to Maisie, who just shrugged.

"Am I wrong? Or is it possible that I've seen you somewhere?" Alex then asked. Claire swallowed and licked her lips slightly. "With the guesses, yes. But it is possible that you've seen us before" She said and waited for Alex to speak next.

It wasn't that Owen and her didn't want people to know, or that they were ashamed of their past. It was nothing like that. There just never seemed a reason to push their history onto people. If they asked, they would get an honest answer but other than that, the subject would be avoided. With more reasons than one.

"Hmm...Do you know?" Alex then asked Maisie, turning her head to look at her. Maisie nodded with a smile, that was clearly masking a laugh. "What is it then?" Alex asked with a laugh, that broke Maisie, letting her laughter escape. "It's not my story to tell" Maisie said, holding the eye contact with her girlfriend. Alex narrowed her eyes at was about to speak when Owen decided to do so.

"But it is though, Maisie" He said, switching Maisie's focus to him. She narrowed her eyes at him, not fully getting where he was coming from. "Maybe not the whole shebang but it all comes together, don't it?" Owen said and looked over at Claire, who was looking at him with confirmation.

Maisie seemed to think for a couple of seconds. "Can't you just tell her" She then said, chuckling slightly with annoyance, that her parents were dragging it out so much. "If you don't want me to know, it's okay. I was just wondering" Alex said, slightly losing hope. Owen chuckled at the girl and looked over at Claire.

Claire took a deep breath and turned slightly in her chair. "How long ago do you think you saw us?" She asked. Alex looked back at her questioningly. "What does that matter?" She laughed, wondering even more what was going on. "It will tell where you saw us" Claire said, loving Alex' reactions. The girl was clearly in on the games that were being played. "Six years maybe" Alex said. Claire thought for a second. "Alright well then it can be both" She then said.

"Were you on TV?" Alex then asked, making both adults nod. "Both times?" She then asked, earning herself two nods. "Some big news thing then, I'm guessing" Alex said. Claire nodded "Correct". Owen couldn't help the snigger that escaped his mouth. God damn Claire. He couldn't help but fall more and more in love with her.

Alex groaned and turned to Maisie. "Just a keyword, come on help me out here" She said, chuckling at the end, clearly still enjoying her time. Maisie narrowed her eyes again and licked her lips, having a hard time containing her laugh. She opened her mouth, taking a few seconds to speak. "Dinosaurs" She then said and had to let her laugh out at Alex' reaction. The girl turned her head to the adults, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. "What the..." They couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "With the?" "Yep" "And the?" "Mhm" "Both times?" "indeed".

Alex turned to Maisie and asked "Why did I not know this?". All Maisie did was shrug and chuckle a bit more.

"So, what were you doing the first time? Survivors obviously but other than that" Alex asked, eyes darting between the adults with excitement. Claire turned her head towards Owen with a tilt, silently telling him to continue. "Alright here come the cake" He said and leaned forward, making Alex do so as well. Maisie and Claire shared a quick look, making it hard to hold in yet another laugh.

"So, when the park was up and running, the person responsible for it doing so, is sitting right there" Owen said and gestured towards Claire with his hand. Alex' eyes widened fully again and she slightly shook her head, not believing what she was hearing.

Sure, she was very young when the whole Jurassic World thing went down but that didn't mean it went over her head. It was such a big deal that you have to be living under a rock to not have heard about it.

"Were you there because Claire worked there then?" Alex asked, making Owen chuckle at himself, remembering the times he wanted to quit, but then thought about the redhead and how he couldn't possibly leave her behind with all those thirsty men.

"No, Claire and I weren't together, while the park was open. I was the raptor trainer" Owen then continued. Alex blinked a few times. "The raptors that were on the news?" Didn't they all die?" Alex then asked with a tone that turned sad at the end. Owen smiled at her with a sad smile. "One is still alive...I think...I trained her well, she should be doing just fine, wherever she is" Owen said. Claire reached a hand out to stroke his arm a couple times. Knowing that the raptors brought back feelings on a weekly basis, for him.

"And the second time?" Alex then asked, eager to get to the bottom of the whole story. "Well the second time was when the volcano erupted. Claire and I went back to try and save as many dinosaurs as possible. Including the last raptor, Blue" Owen told.

"Blue, I like that" Alex said smiling. "When did you...ehh" Alex said, unsure of how to phrase what she had in her mind. "We met Maisie at the mansion where the dinosaurs were taken" Claire said, putting the girl out of her misery. "Remember I told my grandpa died?" Maisie then asked, reaching a hand out for touch Alex' arm, with a smile. "Oh yea...That was then?" Alex then asked. "Same night" Maisie nodded.

Alex insisted that she helped clean up after the meal, warning them that she had many more questions to come. Neither Claire nor Owen minded. They understood fully that the girl was curious and were more than capable of understanding how interesting it is to other people. The people who didn't live the nightmares.

If there are any mistakes, you are very welcome to point them out so I can fix them.

I wrote this at 3am and I was tired.

Figured you'd rather I uploaded it now than forgot about it or didn't find energy to read it through, for a week.

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