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English
Series:
Part 2 of Full Circle
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2018-12-06
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2023-11-28
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150,803
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47/47
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Chapter 6: Fessing up

Chapter Text

Fessing Up

Claire had put the phone call off as long as she could. Instead, relying on text messages to let her sister know that she was okay, that yes, she'd been at Lockwood and, yes, some dinosaurs had escaped, but no, there was no reason for her sister to panic. She'd exchanged text messages with Zach and Gray as well, as they both pestered her, wanting their own confirmation that she was alive and unharmed. She had glossed over the unharmed part, and focused on alive.

She had known that loose dinosaurs roaming California was never going to be something they could keep quiet. From the moment the doors to the outside opened, she knew her life had been irrevocably changed, again.

They'd called in the cavalry immediately. The estate almost immediately swarming with people in every uniform imaginable. And where first responders congregated, the media was never far behind. As the head of the DPG, she had been in front of the press from the start. Not that there had ever really been a question about who would take on the interviews. Franklin was too nervous and Zia too impolite. Owen was not part of the DPG and had had enough media attention during Jurassic World to last him many lifetimes over. Besides, Maisie had pretty much surgically attached herself to him, crowding herself closer and closer for every new car or truck that arrived. And they wanted to keep her out of sight. No one needed to know her involvement in what went down, and, to be honest, they weren't even sure how… legitimate, she was. Did she have a birth certificate? What sort of paper trail had Lockwood created? Or erased? But those were questions for another day, and not a topic they were going to raise casually, especially around so much media attention.

The first couple of weeks had been a whirlwind. Many of the dinosaurs had been captured immediately, having not wandered far from the Lockwood estate. It was a good thing, but it, unfortunately, had meant putting most of them back in the cages within the basement, as they didn't have anywhere else that was strong enough to contain them. Of the ones that had moved farther away, most seemed to be avoiding populated areas like cities. It was good for preventing a catastrophic death toll, but it made it much harder to track their movements.

And then there was Maisie. They had found paperwork (thank god) but there was a big question mark as to what was going to happen to her. Lockwood's will had, in fact, left her to Eli Mills, but he was also dead. Iris had shown back up at the house, but she wasn't in shape to take on raising Maisie on her own. For the first few days, pretty much no one had left the Lockwood estate, and so a decision hadn't been made. But, once things started to settle down in a more organized fashion, and people were allowed to leave, the question had loomed larger. What was going to happen to Maisie?

In the end, Claire pulled every lever she could, calling in favours left, right, and center, to get permission for Maisie to stay with her and Owen. She now owed a lot of people, but they had received temporary guardianship. It was only for a few weeks, just long enough for child protection services to do a more thorough investigation to determine if it could be a longer term solution. But Claire wasn't worried about that. She knew they'd already cleared the biggest hurdle, and if they could show they were successful in taking care of her over the next while, and that Maisie wanted to be with them, the rest of it would be smoother sailing (not smooth, but smoother).

But, now that the three of them had been back in her own place for a few days, she knew she had to suck it up and call Karen. She wasn't looking forward to it. She was waiting for the yelling, the tears, the drama, and the family and sibling dynamics that never got any easier to navigate.

"You know, the longer you wait, the worse it's going to be, right?" Owen asked, sticking his head into the bedroom where she was sitting on the bed, staring at her phone.

"I know," Claire nodded, her gaze not moving.

"She loves you," Owen reminded her, moving into the room to perch next to her on the bed. "She just wants you to be happy. And…" he trailed off, waiting until Claire finally pulled her gaze away from the phone to look at him, "she's always wanted to be an aunt."

"She's also the one I vented to about you," Claire reminded him. "Everything I thought, yelled, or said, I told her. She's not your biggest fan."

"Oh…" Owen wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well, Zach and Gray still like me. Two out of three ain't so bad."

"Two out of four," Claire corrected, before adding off his look. "She and Jake – do you remember Jake? – they're pretty serious now."

"Yeah, he's a good guy," Owen nodded. "He liked me, too."

"He's also a smart guy," Claire corrected Owen. "He'll follow Karen's lead." She leaned into him, tilting her head up to catch his gaze. "But, that doesn't matter. I like you."

"And I you," Owen leaned down for a quick kiss, but Claire snaked a hand around his neck, holding him close and deepening it. When Owen pulled back, he gave her a grin, before moving to stand just outside her reach. "I know what you're doing, and I won't be a party to it." Claire gave him an innocent look, but he shook his head. "Call her."

"Fine," Claire grumbled, picking up her phone.

When she didn't make a move, Owen grabbed it from her hands, hitting the dial button, before tossing it back at her. "Good luck," he called out, quickly heading for the door, and closing it behind him.

Groaning, Claire held up the phone, listening to it ring. Maybe she'd be lucky and Karen wouldn't answer. She could just leave a message. Similar to her texts, but Karen wouldn't be able to complain because she had phoned.

"Hello?"

Dammit. "Hi, Karen," Claire said brightly, forcing calmness into her voice.

"Claire!" Karen practically squealed. "I'm so glad you called. I was just telling Jake that if I didn't hear from you in the next few days I was going to be on the next flight down there."

"No! No, no no. You don't need to do that," Claire replied hurriedly.

"Oh?" Karen's curiosity was piqued. "You don't want a visit from your big sister? Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, nothing like that," Claire said, before wincing and correcting herself. "Well, not exactly like that…"

"What, you've got a baby dinosaur living in your living room or something?"

"Or something," Claire agreed.

"Wait, seriously? A dinosaur?"

"What? No. Are you crazy?" Claire held the phone away from her for a moment to look at it.

"What's up then?" Karen asked. When Claire didn't reply right away, Karen continued. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Claire nodded, even though her sister couldn't see her. "Just… hear me out before you say anything, please?"

"Oh-kay," Karen replied, drawing out her answer. "It's not bad, is it?"

"No, at least, I don't think so," Claire confirmed.

"You're not making me feel any better about this," Karen noted.

"Sorry. It's not bad. And it's nothing to do with the dinosaurs. Well, not directly. Okay, that's not quite true either."

"And now I'm feeling even more worried."

"Sorry, I'm not explaining this well."

"You're not explaining anything, Claire," Karen rolled her eyes. "Just spit it out."

"Owen and I are back together and we've taken in Lockwood's granddaughter, Maisie," Claire finally got out in a single rushed breath. The phone was so silent that Claire looked at hers again, wondering if the call dropped. Nope, still connected. "Karen?"

"Yeah, sorry," Karen's voice came back through. "That's a lot to take in. Just processing. Let's back up. You and Owen?"

"Yeah," Claire's gaze went to her bedroom door. She could just hear Maisie and Owen on the other side of it, the TV on as well. Sounds she'd never expected to hear in her own house. And yet, it already felt normal and right.

"How?"

"He went back to Nublar with me," Claire confessed. "God, Karen. I baited him into going and was so relieved that he came along, and then he almost died."

"You're not with him out of guilt or something, are you?" Karen sounded concerned.

"No!" Claire's response was immediate and emphatic. "I'm with him because I love him. And he loves me."

"Aww, Claire," Karen sniffled. "I'm so happy for you."

"Really?" Claire sounded skeptical.

"Really," Karen said firmly. "You two never should've broken up in the first place."

"Well he–"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Karen groaned. "You've told me everything before. Doesn't change my opinion. You're both just so stubborn and neither were willing to compromise. It only works if both sides are willing to give and take. He's a good man, Claire."

"I know."

"So..." Karen drew out. "Lockwood's granddaughter. How old is she?"

"Nine," Claire replied immediately.

"Wait, she's still a kid? You've got a kid living with you? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"Ha ha," Claire rolled her eyes. "Yes, she's still a kid. Although a pretty mature one, if you ask me. But she has nowhere to go and she sort of … latched onto Owen at the house."

"Wait, there was a kid there?" Karen's voice rose.

"Yes, but shhh! You can't tell people. We've been able to keep her involvement out of the news."

"I didn't even know Owen was there," Karen grumbled. "You're getting too good at this media manipulation stuff."

"Thank you," Claire took it as a compliment. She was finding it easier this time around.

"What happened to her parents?"

"Um, her mom died," Claire replied with a wince. All the terminology seemed so messed up when she said it aloud. Mom. Grandfather. Neither were accurate.

"And her dad?"

"We don't know who he is," Claire dismissed. "No one does. Right now, we've got temporary guardianship of her, while CPS does their investigation to make it more permanent."

"Permanent. Like adoption permanent?" Karen asked hesitantly. "Do you guys know what you're getting into?"

"Right now, we're just taking it day-by-day," Claire replied with a sigh. "Adoption, if it happens, is a ways off. There's a lot of other things still going on."

"Are you sure about all this?" Karen asked softly. "You've always been sure you didn't want kids."

"I know," Claire nodded, gaze again drifting to her bedroom door, wondering about the chaos happening on the other side. Her once magazine-perfect apartment felt like it had gone through a blender in the last few weeks. Owen's stuff and Maisie's stuff both finding homes on her bookshelves, tables, closets and walls. She'd tripped over a sock monkey on her way to the bathroom the other day, and had never done so many loads of laundry in her life. "I think I really want this," she confessed to her sister. "It's weird but… it feels right. And normal. Like it was meant to be."

"Aww," Karen said, letting out a sniffle. "Claire, I'm so happy for you. Now, tell me everything! What's her name? What's she like? When can I come visit?"

"Well, her name's Maisie and…"