Chapter Text
Owen POV:
"Uhhh, you smell like horses." Maisie murmured in disgust, deftly wriggling out of my embrace. I smiled in amusement at the girl's direct manner, keeping our lives pretty busy at the moment. I knew that she trusted me, was opening up to me more, and that she and Claire had her differences many times.
When I drove off this morning to help the men relocate the Parasaurus herd, I had a bad feeling about leaving them alone.
I could tell immediately from Claire's face that something had happened between her and Maisie as she walked toward me. She smiled at me as always, but her ocean green eyes weren't as bright as usual.
I swallowed my guilt, smiled and put my arm around Claire, who wanted to greet me with a kiss. "Oh you like that, do you?" I asked teasingly about my smell, pulling her against me as she answered my question with a quiet "I do." and a smiling smirk.
As always, I enjoyed feeling Claire's lips on mine because even after all the time we had spent together, I was grateful that she was still with me. That she had decided to stay with me after all.
Even though we used to have quite different views and expectations of life, I fell in love with her back on Isla Nublar, left the island and wanted to start a new life with her. My stubbornness and boundless selfishness had made Claire leave me back then. And even if I didn't want to admit it to myself at the time, I needed her.
I needed this woman like the air I breathe. We broke up. But our love for each other remained. Eventually, destiny brought us together again, she stayed with me and together we took care of Maisie, this sweet little 10 year old girl who in a moment had no home, no relatives and from all over the world at that sensation cloned in human form was sought.
That was 4 years ago, I finished building the house and found myself in a new life as foster father and partner. I started loving this life. It had brought Claire back to me and also made me feel needed as a father figure.
Maisie was no longer a child, in the midst of puberty and locked here in the middle of nowhere with us. In the meantime, she no longer saw the evenings with us around the campfire as an adventure, our game of hide-and-seek from civilization was torture and every word, every look was often too much for her.
Claire resonated with Maisie's manner and often unthinkingly rude words, and I did my best to dispel her belief that she was a bad mother. As in everything in her life, she tried to do her best to handle our lives and I admired her patience and empathy.
I had to remind her very often that I was there too and supported her in everything she did. She rarely accepted help and it took her a long time to accept that she could show weakness towards me, that she could come to me with her worries and share her fears with me.
She let me love her. And she loved me. God, how she loved me.
When I broke our kiss to look into her eyes, Claire pulled me back in and kissed me again. She dug her hands into my shoulders for support and I could literally feel her helplessness. So I hugged her a little tighter and watched anxiously as Maisie disappeared into the house, shaking her head while muttering something about cooking dinner.
Like all teenagers, she hated watching us kiss.
"Ist everything ok?" I asked Claire, looking worriedly at her face. "She's been back in town," she whispered, leaning into my chest. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, that kid. Have you talked to her?" I asked my girlfriend, already knowing what kind of answer I would get. "I've tried," Claire replied sadly, laying her head on my shoulder.
"I will do it." I murmured, taking Claire's hand and whispered "good." as we made our way inside.