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As they pulled up to Karen’s house, a visibly nervous Claire turned her head to stare in the backseat. “You ready for this, sweetheart?”
“Are you?” Maisie shot back, a grin on her face. She couldn’t wait to meet her aunt and cousins. Getting to venture out in the world now - sometimes, at least - was still exciting and surreal.
“Let’s go. I think Karen’s vibrating from excitement,” Owen observed, noting her presence in front of the window.
“Let’s do this thing.” The three of them got out of the car and Karen flung the door open before they even made it the whole way up the sidewalk.
Karen screamed and opened her arms so she could get a hug from your sister. Zach rolled his eyes at his mother’s behavior even though he was excited to see his aunt again. “Take it down a notch, Mom,” he chided.
“Like that’s going to happen,” Gray shot back.
Claire pulled a suddenly nervous Maisie closer to her. “Maisie, meet your aunt and cousins.”
Karen held out her hand and shook Maisie’s hand. “Karen Mitchell. It’s so nice to meet you.” This kid had made her sister a mom, and Claire seemed to be doing well with the job so far.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Maisie flashed her a smile and then turned her attention to her cousins. “Hello.”
“Hey. You want to watch something on TV?” Zach suggested.
“Maybe later.” She turned to Gray and proceeded to shake his hand too.
“It’ll be nice to have a cousin,” he murmured.
Karen squealed. “We’ll order some pizza and then settle in. Are you guys good?” she checked.
“We’re fine,” Claire assured her sister. She had talked on the phone with her sister but hadn’t been able to see her in person in several years so it was nice to see her and the boys again.
The six of them filed into the kitchen, and Maisie made sure to find a seat in between her parents. She liked Karen, Zach, and Gray but Owen and Claire made her feel safe, especially after her kidnapping. It was Zach who addressed the elephant in the room and Karen nearly facepalmed after the words came out of his mouth. “So you’re a clone, huh?” he asked Maisie.
“Zach,” Karen hissed.
“I’m not ashamed of it. Yes, I’m a clone - I recently discovered my biological mother created me all on her own because she wanted a child,” Maisie explained.
“Cool.”
“You can’t be the only clone out there, right?” a curious Gray questioned. It stood to reason somebody else had tried to clone a human being after they successfully managed to clone dinosaurs.
She shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea but if they are out there, I’d love to meet them.”
“How’s parenthood?” Karen asked about twenty minutes later, after they all finished fighting over their pizza order (and ended up ordering six different pizzas).
“Enjoyable. Stressful at times, but Maisie is our world,” Claire answered, ruffling her annoyed teenager’s hair.
“Letting her out of our sight these days is somewhat terrifying but we’ll get over it,” chimed in Owen. They both checked in on her several times a night to make sure she was still there and safe.
“They’re annoying actually,” Maisie teased.
Zach and Gray both chuckled. “Unfortunately, that’s what parents are like,” Zach told her.
Claire surprised everyone by yawning. “Long trip. Took a lot out of me.”
A suspicious Karen narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything just yet. “You can sleep all you want after we eat. Good plan?”
“Good plan,” she agreed.
“Maisie, we are thrilled you’re officially a part of this family now. I can’t wait to get to know you better. And maybe we can come visit you at some point?” Karen hoped so - at least she finally understood why Claire had acted so weirdly the past four years. She and Owen hadn’t wanted to put anyone else in danger, choosing to keep Maisie a secret for her own protection. She hated it but she got it.
When the pizza arrived, they all gladly started to dig in. Claire tore into her pizza in a way Karen had never seen before, making her even more suspicious. She waited to confront her sister until after Maisie and Owen went into the living room to watch a movie with the boys. “So how far along are you?”
Claire froze. “What are you talking about?”
Karen was confused now. “Are you fucking with me or do you just not know? Because I’ve been through this twice and I know.”
Claire sighed and squared her shoulders. “Found out a few weeks ago - seems the ‘thank God we’re alive sex’ after our rescue mission was what did it. We’re excited but Maisie doesn’t know yet - waiting until I’m a little further along.”
“Won’t say anything, I promised.” But Karen grinned and hugged her sister. “So, how has four years of motherhood treated you?”
“I love it. Maisie’s the best, although she’s a teenager now and of course is pushing her limits.” She had backed down a bit after the kidnapping, not wanting to give them heart attacks. “She’s amazing.”
“And everything okay with all of you in the wake of the kidnapping?” Karen still had nightmares about her children and sister’s experiences on Jurassic World.
“We’re slowly getting back to normal.” Claire narrowed her eyes. “And those who fucked with my daughter paid so I don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“Whoa, okay, mama bear. Good look on you, Claire.” Karen hugged her and then they rejoined the boys and Maisie in the living room.
The week-long trip proved to be fun, and they all enjoyed getting to know one another better. There was some awkwardness but they worked past it as a family. And in the end, Karen and the boys promised to visit the three of them as soon as possible.
Seven months later (nine months after the Italy trip), Claire, Owen, and Maisie welcomed twins to the family and made them all whole. And they eventually began to enjoy the new world with dinosaurs despite the mountain of trauma each other them faced.