Clawen - Season 3

Chapter 5 - The Zoo

The morning was pleasant, with a cold breeze. Septembers were nice times, and with our main trio heading off for a zoo trip, this day promised to be no different.

Claire was estatic, but Sydney was even more, for rather obvious reasons. She gave a sweet, long talk about what she would do, plus the fact that she would walk all the way.

Finally, she popped up with a question, "Does Owen live with the animals?"

Claire laughed and sweetly replied, "No sweetheart, but he is close by."

"Can I ask him what does he do with them?"

"Yeah sure! You know what, you can ask him when we go to the zoo," Claire said with some child-like excitement of her own.

By 3, Claire and Sydney were ready to go. Downstairs in the lobby, Owen was waiting. His eyes were filled with glee when the 2 came down and saw him.

"Hi Owen!"

But that wasn't Claire. It was her super-excited daughter.

"Hi Sydney! Excited?"

"No.. " she said with sharp eyes.

"No?"

"..I'm super excited!"

Owen smiled as he looked up at Claire, who was about to burst out with laughter at Sydney's last-minute detail. Sydney got in quickly, and Claire walked towards Owen.

"Thanks for coming."

"Anytime," he whispered in her ear, his breath clearly felt. Claire closed her eyes, trying to take that in, and saw Owen go towards his seat. "Hop in Ms. Dearing."

Claire got in, and the trio went to the zoo. On the way, Sydney decided to ask that question. Owen was only too happy to answer it. "I feed them, and we have some playtime together."

"Like catch?"

"Y-Yeah, like catch," Owen said, and as Sydney went into that child-in-deep-thought mode, Claire put her hand on Owen's. He loved that.

They reached the zoo. They started walking. Claire took Sydney's hand in hers and surprised Owen by doing the same with him. Their hands were locked, and on a pleasant September sunday, she couldn't ask for more.

As they walked, and fed on Owen's knowledge on the animals, which left Claire impressed, they came across the aviary. Owen decided to try his hand at feeding the birds. As the duo watched Owen, Sydney said, "Can I do that?"

Owen turned back and looked at them. "Of course," he said with a smile.

Now, if there was one thing Claire (and hardly anyone else) would be scared of, it was feeding birds (for some unknown reasons of course). But as she saw Owen gently guiding her daughter, she felt her heart melt. It was possibly the warmest sight between Owen and Sydney she had ever seen.

And Sydney accomplished her mission, on the other hand.

"Look Mommy I'm doing it!" she exclaimed, as Owen laughed in glee.

"Great dear!" That sight of the two laughing took any fear out of her.

They even saw crocodiles on the way. "They are scary," said Sydney.

"Oh yeah? Well, they are pretty good swimmers."

"I hate swimming."

"She does. When the boys were splashing in the water at the beach last time they met, she didn't."

"Hmm..." Owen said, deep in thought. "Wait.. you aren't afraid of water are you?"

Claire shot Owen a death glare, after a long time. "I happened to be 1st in University Swimming Championships thank you. And, let me guess, you dated only cheerleaders?"

"Well you were a swim nerd. And yeah I think I did. But now I really really prefer swimmers," Owen replied, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before Sydney could see or Claire could come to what he had said. And yeah, Claire was surprised.

Sydney swung herself holding onto the 2 adults' hands.  She playfully laughed, and the two silently giggled over her. 

The time was 4:45 when Sydney was feeling tired of all the walking. Claire gently lifted her, and then Owen decided to intercept. 

"Should I hold her for you?"

Claire didn't hesitate. "Yeah, sure."

Owen gently took her in his strong arms, and as her head adjusted to her new pillow, Claire felt different. Owen had become the second major person in Sydney's life after her mother. Nothing, not even another dinosaur event, was going to change that.

The time was around 5:30 when the trio finally reached Claire's apartment. Owen carried Sydney up to the room, and Claire came down to see him off. They walked towards the car, with shy laughs and smiles.

"I had a great time." Owen finally broke this silence as well. "Thanks."

"You made Sydney's day," Claire said, and they both smiled. And then she added,

"And mine as well."

Owen looked at her with a smile. They moved towards each other, and only willpower stopped Owen from saying those three words, as he put his hands around her, and her arms were around his neck. They kissed each other, and they were beginning to realise that survival was maybe just an excuse for wanting each other after all, that they were meant to be and not just stick together, for much more than survival.

As Owen left with a smile, and Claire saw him off, she sighed as Owen's car slowly went out of sight. For she knew that her and her daughter had a third member now, and that was undeniable.