Owen’s Double Secret

by tcsced

Owen is keeping two secrets...one from Maisie and one from Claire.

Owen's Double Secret

Owen had a secret he was keeping from Maisie. Claire was in on it with him. But what Claire didn't know was that Owen was keeping a secret from her too…and Maisie was in on that one with him.

Part 1:

The door to the elevator opened. Owen held the door for Claire as she stepped in and he followed behind her. He pressed "4" and they ascended upward to the fourth floor of the lawyer's office. They were both dressed as though they were going to a corporate meeting with some big Fortune 500 company. Claire wore her hair loose over a black blouse with a belt and black skirt and heels. Owen couldn't help but think of how this suit reminded him of the white suit she wore the day all Hell broke loose on Isla Nublar. That was the day he fell in love with her. He smiled slightly as he looked her up and down on the elevator. She usually wore her hair up in her famous pony tail, but today she looked almost like the "corporate Claire" he remembered from their days at Jurassic World. She looked gorgeous to him, but that was every day despite what she wore or how she fixed her hair. Claire was facing forward looking like she had just seen a ghost. Owen could tell she was nervous. She had complimented him earlier at home when she emerged from putting her makeup on in the bathroom and saw him standing by the bed dressed in a suit and tie. To her recollection, she had never seen him dressed up this much in all the years she'd known him. "You look…very uh nice, very handsome," she told him with a surprised look on her face. She smiled, trying not to look so surprised at how great he looked and he said, "Thank you. You didn't know I could clean up this nice, did you?" The elevator seemed to be moving upwards at a snail's pace. Claire took a deep breath and Owen reached over and held her hand. She turned to look at him and gave him a nervous smile.

The elevator finally stopped. They heard the "ding" and stepped off into a long hallway. Again, he held the door open for her. She always admired his chivalry, but sometimes she didn't want a MAN helping her do things. She was always independent and learned to rely on herself for everything a long time ago. However, in moments like this, she appreciated the old fashioned gentleman in him…it was rare for a man to hold a door for a woman anymore so she never put up a fuss about it. They held hands as they walked down the hallway to the fifth door on the left. They walked in and greeted the receptionist who told them to have a seat and the lawyer would be with them shortly. Owen sat down, but Claire stood by the window in the waiting room and looked out at the world below her. It was a sunny day outside, and she could feel the warmth from the sun radiating off the window onto her face. She closed her eyes and thought of everything that had happened in the past year. She didn't want to rehash the events that took place involving Maisie after what happened at her grandfather's estate, but the thoughts were hard to erase.

Child Services took Maisie into custody shortly after Claire and Owen had taken her home with them to Claire's apartment. They placed her in foster care for a short period of time, but she kept sneaking out at night and somehow finding her way back to Claire's apartment in the middle of the night. Luckily, Claire's apartment was only a few blocks away from the foster family's home. Much to Maisie's dismay, Claire always took her straight back to the foster family in the middle of the night because she knew if she had any chance of getting Maisie back for good, she would have to abide by the laws set forth in the meantime. After the third escape to Claire's apartment, the foster family and Child Services both agreed after some investigation into Claire and Owen's background that they were financially and emotionally suitable enough to gain temporary custody of the child until something else could be done. Maisie made it very clear to the social workers and lawyers that the only two people she was interested in staying with were Claire and Owen. She wanted nothing to do with her temporary foster family, and cried every time Claire toted her back to them in the middle of the night. She was a 10 year old girl who had been lied to her whole life. Everyone she knew before Claire and Owen came along had deceived her. Claire and Owen were the only two people that never lied to her. She felt safe with them, and even though they had only known each other for a very short period of time at that point, she felt loved by them too. Seven months had passed since she came to live with them full-time temporarily until the courts figured out what to do with her. She was still a minor and unfortunately, that meant she did not have a full say so in what was in her best interest. Luckily for Maisie, Claire was good at persuading people to her side. Aside from Operations Manager, Claire was also in charge of marketing for one of the largest theme parks in the world at one time after all. She knew how to make a sale. Also, working as an activist, she had a handful of lawyers she knew that could help her and Owen out. She hired one of them right away, and they got to work trying to get full shared custody as quickly as possible. They both knew being married would have looked better to the courts and made things easier for everyone involved, but they both agreed to take things slow and work harder on their relationship this time around. They never fell out of love with each other during the time they were broken up. They were both too stubborn to admit it though and instead just argued over who left who, to which they never came up with a solid answer. None of that mattered to Claire anymore though. She and Owen made it through Hell and back more than once and they always seemed to come back to each other. They loved each other and they both loved that little girl so much, and all they wanted was for no one to take her away from them again. They spent countless days and nights discussing the responsibilities of taking on a child full time, and they both agreed to do whatever it took to try to give her a normal life. Neither of them knew what it was about her that made them want to keep her the second they met her. Maybe it was because they both saw a lot of themselves in her. Regardless of whatever it was, they just knew they couldn't leave her behind, and the rest, to them, was history. Maisie talked about wanting to live with them permanently over and over again. They sat her down one day several months back and asked her if she wanted them to adopt her one day. She said that was what she wanted more than anything. They didn't really bring it up to her again, but secretly kept working at their plan to make it happen.

The door to the lawyer's office finally opened. "Ms. Dearing, Mr. Grady, good to see you again. Please come in." They walked in and took a seat next to each other at a long conference table. There was a stack of paperwork sitting on the table in front of them. The lawyer sat across from them. "Everything is here, and final. All you both have to do is sign the papers." Claire looked down at the adoption papers. A year ago, she went after Owen to help her save the dinosaurs, not knowing that within the span of about 24-48 hours she would come back home to her apartment with him and a child on top of everything else. Her life had changed so much in the past year…so had his. Claire was not even the same person she was five years ago. She grabbed the pen and looked at the lawyer. "So this is it? We sign this and she's ours, forever?" The lawyer nodded and she looked at Owen nervously again. "Let's do this." Owen spoke the words softly, knowing Claire was excited but nervous at the same time. He knew this was a big step for her, but he had seen nothing but love and affection between Claire and Maisie and he knew this was what Claire wanted. She never saw herself as a mother until the night she met Maisie. Looking back, she was surprised at herself at how she held the child so close to her as they walked through the mansion trying to escape that flesh-eating beast of a hybrid that was running rampant through the house. She remembered holding her in her arms the first night she brought her home to her apartment while Maisie sobbed and shook, the aftershock of what had happened finally getting to her. Maisie slept in Claire's bed with her every night for a month or two after she and Owen got her back, while Owen willingly resorted to the couch. She had terrible nightmares and said the foster family she stayed with never let her sleep in their bed when she woke up scared in the middle of the night. She thought about everything they had both been through and done together in the past several months. Claire couldn't think of living without that child in her life anymore. She picked up the pen and signed her name across one of the two lines at the bottom of the paper. She handed the pen to Owen and he signed his name on the other line. A few signed copies later and that was it. Maisie was theirs. No one would be able to take her away from them again. Claire took a deep breath. Owen reached for her hand on the desk and squeezed it. Claire wondered how he was always able to stay so calm in certain situations. She was grateful for his calmness because it helped balance her out. He always knew how to calm her down a few notches.

The lawyer signed the paperwork and the three of them stood up at the same time. He wished Claire and Owen good luck, gave them a copy of the adoption papers and escorted them out of his office. They stepped out into the hallway and walked to the elevator in silence. When they got in, Owen pressed "1" and they descended downward. After a few seconds, Claire reached over and held Owen's hand. She didn't look at him, but continued to look straight ahead at the elevator doors and said softly, "I love you." "I love you, too," was all he said in return and they walked hand in hand to the parking garage to go home.

Part 2:

It was a Friday, and Claire and Owen had taken the rest of the day off to prepare how they were going to tell Maisie the news. Maisie had no idea they had already gone through with the official process. She was a smart kid, but like most kids her age, she didn't realize everything it took to become a legal parent. She didn't know the past few weeks while she was at school that in between work hours and lunch breaks, Claire and Owen were finalizing everything to become her legal adoptive parents. All she knew was that they were living together and that as far as she knew, she wasn't going to be placed with another foster family any time soon.

Claire and Owen both had to prove to the courts that they held solid jobs and could financially support Maisie. They both still had some settlement money from Jurassic World in savings, plus they made decent wages working there and without much to do in their free time on a secluded island, neither of them ever spent a great deal of money from their paychecks, aside from bills, clothes and the daily necessities. Owen still received a monthly check from the military too so they were okay as far as finances, but the courts wanted them to show that they were willing to work to take care of the child. Claire still worked for the DPG, trying to right the wrongs that took place on the island and at Lockwood's estate a year ago. She had been helpful in trying to help the government track down some of the people that purchased a few of the dinosaurs at the auction that night. She was still working to keep them safe and protected now more so than ever since they were out in the open on domestic land. A big part of her job now was to get funding to keep the dinosaurs alive instead of being put down immediately upon capture. She understood human life was in danger because of what had happened, and even though no security footage ever surfaced from the underground control room, she didn't make it known who had pushed the button and let the dinosaurs out that fateful night. She planned to protect Maisie's involvement at all costs. She didn't have much in the way of support anymore after news outlets revealed who she was and what happened. Still, she charged on. Little support was better than no support at all. Owen landed a part-time job at the San Francisco Zoo working with various animals on a daily basis, teaching them how to interact with the public, even if it was only through the glass. His work with animals in the military and his qualifications from his work at Jurassic World made for an impressive resume and the operations manager didn't care too much about his involvement with what happened on Isla Nublar the year before. He just wanted someone who was great with animals. They placed him with penguins and surprisingly, he enjoyed working with them. Most of his work with animals had always been reptiles so he didn't know how he would take to cute, fluffy birds, but he quickly became enthralled with them.

Today was about Maisie though, or so Claire thought. Owen had other plans in mind, but he didn't know when the right time would be to execute his secret surprise for Claire. They had planned this day out for weeks and he didn't want to take away from Maisie's big day. At the same time, he couldn't control the feelings he had, knowing they were about to be an official family. They stopped by a craft store on the way home and Claire picked out an elegant white box to put the adoption papers in. She bought some light green shiny ribbon to wrap around the box. Owen walked around the craft store with Claire, watching as she delicately made every decision down to the string she would tie the ribbon onto the box with. Claire was the organized, detailed one. Owen would have rolled the paper up and tied it to the paw of one of Maisie's stuffed animals and said, "Here kid, congrats! You're ours!!" He knew Maisie would be happy just with them telling her she was adopted, but he also knew Claire, and he knew Claire wanted it to be perfect.

They drove home holding hands in the car the whole way. Home was now the cabin, which Owen finally finished. It was located only about 30 minutes outside the city. It was beautiful and overlooked the huge lake and mountains surrounding it. The outside was somewhat rustic, but most of the inside was more modern, more Claire's taste. When they made the decision to live there full time, he was still putting the finishing touches on the outside. He let Claire decorate the entire inside, with some help from Maisie. Owen didn't care much about aesthetics, but he knew Claire did. So he let her do whatever she and Maisie wanted with the inside, as long as he had a television to watch sports on, a comfortable couch and a comfortable bed. The cabin was modest with three bedrooms, a master bedroom, Maisie's room and a spare bedroom which doubled as an office for Claire sometimes. The master bedroom had a large window that overlooked the lake out back, which Owen and Claire both loved to wake up to in the mornings.

Claire had become a little more outdoorsy since living out in the woods. She really had no choice but to adapt. She did some work from home occasionally so her only requirement was that they were able to get phone signals out there so she could work on her phone and computer when necessary. When Claire first went to work at Jurassic World as an intern she liked being outside with the dinosaurs. She enjoyed nature to a certain extent. But by the time she reached the corporate level, the control room and her office were her home. It took her a while to come back to nature and learn to appreciate it again, but she slowly did. As soon as the cabin was finished, she moved out of her apartment and the three of them lived full time together in their cabin. Maisie went to school in the city, a few blocks from the DPG office. Claire adjusted her work schedule so that she could drop Maisie off in the mornings and pick her up in the afternoons. On the days Owen worked he dropped her off in the mornings because he usually had to be at the zoo pretty early in the morning for feedings and cleanings before the zoo opened to the public. They both worked hard together to make sure Maisie had as smooth a transition as she could from what she was used to before she left her "grandfather's" home forever. Maisie was doing well in school. She made good grades and despite never having attended public school with other children before, she adapted pretty quickly and made some friends along the way, which Claire and Owen were glad for. They were both very smart, educated people but they knew they would have no time to home school Maisie with their busy work schedules, plus they wanted her to be exposed to other children her own age and make friends. No one at her school knew she was a clone, and the three of them agreed that was best to keep under wraps for the time being.

Iris had been a big help in getting Claire and Owen access to a birth certificate for Maisie. Mills forced her to leave Lockwood's home that night but she didn't go far and found a way to contact Claire shortly after the events that took place to give her the document. Iris wanted to remain in Maisie's life, but knew she would be better cared for by a younger couple who had a home and the means to provide for her better than she could. Iris didn't know if Lockwood left her anything in his will, as Mills had destroyed all those documents apparently before everything went downhill that night. She told Claire all of this in confidence and told her she was leaving to go back to England. She missed her homeland and wanted to go back to the country she grew up in before coming to America to work for Benjamin Lockwood many years ago. She asked Claire if she could stay in touch by phone with Maisie occasionally and Claire agreed without any hesitation. Iris was forced to lie to Maisie all her life too, not wanting the child to know what she really was. This heavy weight was bestowed on her by Lockwood himself. She didn't know if Maisie would want to have anything to do with her after finding out, and Claire told her if and when she did, she would call her so she and Maisie could talk. Maisie was open to the idea, but was not ready to pick up the phone yet.

When they pulled up to the cabin, Claire got out and immediately went inside to change clothes and get to work on putting the box together with the adoption papers inside for Maisie to open when she got home from school. One of them would have to go back into town to pick her up in a few hours. They thought about staying in town but they didn't want Maisie to think something was up when they showed up at her school together, both dressed in suits and ties. Maisie knew their "work" clothes, so they decided it would be best if one of them went to pick her up like it was any other normal day. They had done the same thing earlier that morning. Owen took her to school and drove all the way back to the cabin to get dressed up to go to the lawyer's office with Claire so Maisie wouldn't wonder what was going on. They wanted this to be a total surprise for her. Claire changed into a pair of skinny jeans, her heels and threw on a white button down top and halfway tucked it in with a belt. This was one of her "Casual Friday" looks, and she knew Maisie would suspect nothing. Claire was always thinking two steps ahead of everyone else. Owen wondered how a person's brain could stay that organized…he finally learned to just go along with it. That was one part of Claire that would never change. But he could always find matching socks in the drawer so he was grateful someone in the house was organized because it was never his strong suit. Claire came from the bedroom and stood in the kitchen working on the box. She placed the papers inside with a handwritten note on top that said "Maisie, we love you so much and we have a huge surprise for you that we hope you'll like…Love, Claire and Owen." She closed the box and wrapped the green ribbon around it and tied it neatly in a bow across the top. It looked like it had been professionally gift wrapped by the time she was finished. Owen emerged from the bedroom and looked at the box and teased Claire about how perfect it was. She fussed at him and rolled her eyes until he walked up to her and kissed her on the lips. "I can't wait for later…I love you and I love that little girl so much," he said as he pulled away from her. Claire teared up for a moment and he could see how emotional all of this was making her. She looked him in the eye and said, "I am so happy. I am so scared, but so happy. I'm so in love with that little girl. Owen, what has happened to me? How did I become this mushy?" Owen laughed and told Claire he liked the change in her.

In that moment he wanted so badly to ask her the question he had planned to ask her for the past couple of weeks. But he promised Maisie he would do it when she was there. She promised Owen she would not say a word to Claire about his secret. When he found out what day they were signing the adoption papers he knew that would be the perfect day to seal his family for good. In the past year, he and Claire took things slow and focused most of their time on Maisie, trying to do fun things with her and schoolwork and such. With work in the mix, they didn't have much time for each other. Even during the first few months when Maisie was in foster care, they found little time to really reconnect again. Luckily, they were both always pretty connected to begin with. They agreed not to rush into anything however. When Owen finished the cabin a few months after the incident hey wanted to make sure they could live together without killing each other this time around since there was a child involved. Zia enjoyed spending time with Maisie and she held "girl weekends" for the two of them at her apartment occasionally so Claire and Owen could have some alone time. This helped matters too. Everyone worked as a team where Maisie was involved and Claire was never more grateful for Owen and the friends in her life that helped make their transition go as smoothly as it possibly could. She and Owen could both tell they were growing closer and closer as a couple. They were comfortable with what they had which was love and trust and stability for once. The love had always been there, they just had to learn how to make it work. Claire never pressured Owen for a ring or a commitment. He honestly didn't know if she ever thought about it or not. He knew how she previously felt about those kinds of things, but he figured if they could commit to a child they could commit to each other if they loved each other as much as they expressed it to one another.

The truth was that Claire did think about it, but only in the back of her mind, and only on occasion. Although she was happy with Owen in the past, she never really wanted their relationship to be fully public, something she now regretted. That was part of what pushed them away from each other the first time. It wasn't at all that she was ashamed of him. She just knew on paper they didn't go together. When she saw him again after over a year apart and spent the better part of two days running from dinosaurs on an island with him again, she stopped caring what she or anyone else thought about their relationship. She decided that opposites maybe do attract sometimes and decided then and there that she wanted to be with him again. When he saved her and Franklin from the Gyrosphere underwater and pulled the log off her leg and applied pressure to the tear the Indoraptor had caused, she knew he still loved her too and he would do anything to keep her safe. That safety was something she never thought she wanted or needed from another person. But she was elated every time he wrapped his arms around her, even when he was annoying her. She felt safe with him, a feeling she had never felt with anyone else, not that there had been too many other guys. She went on a few dates with one or two guys while they were broken up but nothing more than dinner ever ensued because she knew in her heart what she still felt about Owen. She regretted needing a reason such as help finding a dinosaur to go back to him, but she figured he had moved on with his life by then and was happy. She was relieved to find out he felt the same things she felt all along. The man built her a cabin for crying out loud. He was good looking, kind, chivalrous, funny, a great kisser, a great lover, and now a great father. How could she be ashamed of anything they had together? She thought about marriage from time to time, but it wasn't something she let her mind obsess over. As long as they were together she was happy.

By the time Claire finished perfecting the box, they had about an hour left before one of them had to go pick Maisie up from school. Claire decided they needed to rehearse what they were going to say to her. Owen argued that they needed to just say what was in their hearts. Claire eventually agreed, something she hated doing with Owen sometimes. They were both still stubborn as a mule sometimes. Claire left to get Maisie while Owen fired up the grill to make cheeseburgers for dinner. It was Maisie's favorite meal. Claire was not a huge fan but went along with it because she knew this was Maisie's special day.

Claire picked Maisie up from school and they drove home, Maisie thinking Claire had been at work all day. On the way home, they talked about Maisie's day at school and what she had for homework and what they were going to do over the weekend. Claire had not planned anything special because she didn't want Maisie to think something was up. They decided a nice weekend on the lake fishing and putting puzzles together inside would suffice. Claire liked putting puzzles together with Maisie. Starting with something so unorganized and then putting it together to form some kind of result was right up Claire's alley. She and Owen decided they would eat dinner and then present Maisie with the box afterwards. They sat at the small dining room nook for dinner and ate. Claire and Owen told Maisie they had something for her after dinner was over. Owen had promised her the day before they could go fishing down by the lake after dinner too and she was quick to remind him of that. She loved playing by the lake. She didn't get to spend a lot of time outdoors when she lived in the mansion. She hurried her eating, eager to open her gift. When they were finished, Owen rinsed the dishes in the sink and Claire went to retrieve the box she had hidden in her closet before she left to pick Maisie up from school. Maisie ran into the kitchen and climbed up on a bar stool by the kitchen island, their favorite place to eat breakfast and hang out in the mornings before leaving for work and school.

Claire sat the box down in front of Maisie. She looked at it and pointed out how beautiful it was to which Claire elbowed Owen and said cut him a smirk. She was glad to see her hard work had not gone unnoticed. She really just wanted Maisie to tear into the box and get to the good stuff. Maisie carefully untied the ribbon and opened the top. She looked inside. She read the note on top and then looked up at Claire and Owen. They were standing across from her on the other side of the kitchen island holding hands. Maisie lifted the note and looked deeper inside the box. The first of Owen's two secrets had been revealed. The document read "Legal Adoption Process" in big letters at the top. There were a lot of big words in smaller font in the middle, but she saw Claire and Owen's signatures at the bottom and started weeping. "You're adopting me? Like, REALLY adopting me for real?" Claire started in on the waterworks with Maisie and said, "Sweetie, you're ours. No one can or will ever take you away from us again." Maisie jumped down from the barstool and ran around the other side of the island and put both arms around Claire's waist as tightly as she could. Claire held on to her for what seemed like forever, then Maisie jumped into Owen's arms. He picked her up with both arms then freed one arm to put around Claire. They all embraced for a few minutes, crying and giving out hugs and kisses. Maisie was so overwhelmed with happiness she couldn't stop crying. Owen told Maisie that he and Claire would do everything they could to make her the happiest, most loved kid in the world.

After about ten minutes all the excitement calmed down and Maisie said she loved them both and thanked them again for not only taking her in in the first place, but for treating her as if she were biologically theirs the whole time. "I never really had a real mother or father technically, and you guys have given me that…I love you so much!" Claire and Owen smiled and told her they loved her back and that she had brought so much happiness into their lives in the past year as well. Maisie was a good, sweet kid. Curious about the world around her, still fascinated with dinosaurs and their safety and livelihood. She was well mannered, thanks to Iris, and she was appreciative of everything Claire and Owen had ever given her. They were all grateful for each other in that moment probably more than ever.

It was then that the question neither of them expected to hear came out of Maisie's mouth. "I want to change my last name. Can I change it to one of yours?" Claire and Owen had thought about this, but never mentioned it to Maisie before, as they didn't know if that was something she would want. They knew she loved her "grandfather" even though she felt somewhat bitter after finding out what he did to her. They didn't want to take away the only thing she had left of that part of her life so far. "I don't want to be a Lockwood anymore. You guys are my parents now, you're my family now." Claire and Owen looked at each other, stunned. They both tried to spit some words out but hesitated on what was the best response. Claire finally knelt down to Maisie's level and said, "Maisie, sweetie, if this is something you really want, we can talk about it. But for now you're our little girl and we want to celebrate that!" She said it with excitement so as not to upset Maisie. Maisie excitedly returned the enthusiasm right back at Claire. "Okay, let's go fishing!" Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Owen's head. This would be the perfect thing to use as a pickup line for his proposal. Why not give the poor child what she wants? A name change…Claire could get one too…a two for one! He figured he better come up with a more romantic way of putting it if he was really going to pop the question that evening. "This kid…" he thought. "She is brilliant…I just scored the best segway into a proposal ever!"

Part 3:

Claire changed into something a bit more casual again and they walked to the lake together. Claire and Owen held hands and Maisie ran in front of them with her fishing pole. They sat on a large rock and enthusiastically watched her try for twenty minutes to catch something with no luck.

Owen was now the one starting to get nervous. The sun was just starting to go down and he wanted to reveal his second secret while there was still some daylight outside. Claire luckily got up to go sit on the back porch swing as it was more comfortable than sitting on the rock, plus she could still watch Owen and Maisie from up there. When Claire was far enough away to where Owen was sure she couldn't hear him, he slid over a little closer to Maisie and whispered, "I'm going to go up and sit with Claire and talk to her for a few minutes and I'm probably going to pop the question. You just stay down here and act like you don't know anything for now, okay?" Maisie smiled at Owen and said okay and asked if she could come up there with them if she heard Claire say yes. "Of course you can!"

He got up and walked towards Claire and sat down next to her on the swing. "I thought you were helping Maisie fish," Claire said. "I told her I was gonna come up here and sit with you for a while. Maybe if it's quieter down there by the water something will bite eventually." Claire smiled at him and slid closer to him on the swing and he started to feel his face get hot. His hands were getting clammy and he hoped for this purpose only that she wouldn't reach for his hand. But she did. Luckily she didn't notice the clamminess or if she did, she didn't say anything. Claire was watching Maisie intently and Owen could tell she was in deep thought. She was thinking about the question Maisie popped on her and Owen earlier and she wondered how they were going to handle it. She was happy that Maisie wanted to take one of their last names but the details of it all were getting to her and she let herself drift back to Owen. She laid her head on his shoulder. He gently laid his head on hers a little. He remembered the early days where the only physical displays of affection they shared were during the casual sex they had in his bungalow or at her apartment on the island. There was nothing outside of that. They had both come a long way, especially Claire. She was never the one to hold hands or kiss in public but she found herself holding his hand more often than not these days whenever they went somewhere.

"It's been a big day, hasn't it?" Owen knew if he didn't start some kind of conversation soon his proposal would never come out. He knew Claire would be content to sit there rocking back and forth lightly on the swing with him, not saying anything, and just enjoying the evening for what it was. She had pinned her hair up in a ponytail before dinner and was wearing a tank top and a pair of loose fitting holy jeans cuffed just above her ankles. She was barefoot. The sun started to set on her porcelain skin and freckles. She was so naturally beautiful. She was still wearing her gold bracelet on her right wrist and her gold ring on her right index finger. Along with a simple gold necklace and a pair of small gold stud earrings, the whole set was a gift from her sister years ago and she wore every piece together faithfully almost every day. Even through all the chaos at Jurassic World that day the pieces had survived without breaking off her neck or wrist and he knew how much they meant to her. He hoped the ring he bought was not too flashy. If she didn't like it, he told himself he would immediately take it back and let her pick something else out. He could see the scar above her right knee through one of the holes in her jeans and he knew he had to start talking before he lost himself in the memory of how the scar got there. "It's been a beautiful day," she said calmly back to him. She had gotten too comfortable resting her head on his shoulders. It was time to get her attention.

"Claire, you remember when Wheatley asked us in the truck that day if there were bad memories and I told him some were good? You know I meant that, right?" Claire sat up and looked at him puzzled, wondering where all this was suddenly coming from. "You and I have had our share of differences over the last several years. I won't say it's all been peachy because it hasn't. And you know I'll always shoot you straight. That's one thing about us…we keep each other in check. But when you left a couple of years ago I couldn't stop thinking about the good memories we shared on the island, before and after the incident at Jurassic World. That island was our life. It was your home. It was my home. We didn't know anything different, nor did we want to at the time. But we had no choice after what happened at the park and we moved to San Francisco and thought we were going to act like adults and instead we both ended up acting like children, me more so than you." She was now looking at him a little worriedly because she didn't know where he was going with all this. They had casually discussed these things a few times since getting back together, but Owen was never this serious and nervous while talking about it with Claire. His speech started to get faster and he was now rambling due to nerves. "And the reason I didn't come after you when you left a few years ago was because I didn't want to get in the way of your passion and your dream of wanting to protect and save the dinosaurs. I realized I was a fool for telling you how silly it was to chase that dream in the first place and I'm sorry. I loved you, and I should have supported you more. You changed in so many good ways since what happened at the park. You've done some amazing things for the dinosaurs and they were lucky to have someone like you looking out for them."

"I caught a fish!" Maisie yelled from the lake. "That's awesome, baby! You know how to unhook it and throw it back, right?" Owen waited for Maisie's response and when she said yes he continued on.

"And you know when we were sitting in the cell in Lockwood's basement and I told you I had a cabin to finish that I meant it was for US, right?" Claire finally stopped him. "Owen, where is all this coming from?" He didn't let her interrupt him. "Just listen to me, I have to get this out. You came back before I had a chance to finish the cabin and win you back with my big strong house building man skills and charming good looks." Claire grinned and rolled her eyes at him. "But seriously, I was coming back for you. I did build all this for you, for us. I know it's not your cup of tea, living out in the woods, in nature. But I want to make new memories with you here, Claire…good memories. We've both grown up a lot since the our time at Jurassic World, our time together after, our break and going back to the island last year. That precious child over there has forced us to grow up a lot in the past year too and I'm grateful to her for that. She has made us better…better individuals and better for each other." He stopped talking for a minute, giving her a chance to take in everything he was saying.

Claire felt like she needed to respond to the things he was saying. "Owen, you know when I kissed you that night at Lockwood's it meant I was still in love with you and wanted to start over, right? We've sort of just gone through the motions with Maisie this past year, and I know we promised each other we would take it slower this time and we have, but I want you to know that again, in case I haven't said it. On paper, we don't really go together…a country boy with a military background who loves sports and getting muddy and a city girl who likes everything clean and organized. But there is no one else that makes me feel the way you do. I never thought I would end up in the woods with a rugged country boy. But I can't stand the thought of being with someone else. You make me happy." She cut him a sly smirk. "You drive me nuts most of the time, but you do make me happy, very happy. I just want you to know that since we're sitting here getting so deep into this conversation."

"Claire, of course I knew that. You and I have this weird but amazing silent communication thing going on. We've always had it. We can tell what the other means without having to say it out loud. We're on the same wavelength. Another reason we're good for each other." He smiled as he said it. "We're still learning, but we've come a long way. We've learned to work together to raise that beautiful little girl over there. We've both learned to accept that we can't control each other or everything around us all the time. I feel like we're both better because of her and because of each other. You make me a better man, Claire. You've taught me true love and compassion and patience and I feel like I've taught you the same…sometimes. She cut him a look and smiled as she rolled her eyes, something she first did on the steps of his bungalow that day she went to retrieve him for Mr. Masrani while he threw jokes about dinosaurs "getting it on" at her. The couple of times they had been in each other's presence before that, he did nothing to impress her even enough to make her roll her eyes at him, only enough to make her look at him pissed off and walk away. But even before everything went wrong that day at Jurassic World, there was something about him. Maybe it was the tight Henley he was wearing that morning, or maybe it was the way he was quick to come back with something clever every time she said something smart to him. Either way, rolling her eyes was something Claire Dearing knew she would never stop doing to Owen Grady, no matter how much she loved him.

Owen finally got up from next to her on the swing and knelt down in front of her. He took her left hand in his. She gasped slightly and put her free hand over her mouth. Claire didn't see this coming. She really thought the two of them were just having a serious conversation. But that was still Claire…always down to business.

"Claire, I am never more whole than when I'm with you. I want to spend the rest of my life getting on your nerves, driving you insane, teasing you about your organization skills and loving you with my whole heart." She sniffled, and he knew he was about to start crying along with her if he didn't spit it out soon. "Listen, I can't promise you every day will be a fairytale because I know you and you're a realist anyway and because I know I'm not always the most romantic guy in the world." He was rambling again. "But I can promise you that I'll love you with everything I have in me for the rest of my life. We've been through so much together…we're a good team. So I'm certain we can tackle any obstacle that we come across as long as we're in it together."

Maisie was now watching them from the lake. He pulled the ring out of his pocket. Claire gasped louder this time in total shock and disbelief at what was happening. The ring was a gorgeous, 1.5 carat round cut diamond ring with smaller diamonds outlining the main diamond, and more small diamonds wrapped around the band. Of the diamonds outlining the main diamond, every other stone was amber. Owen had the ring custom made with amber stones outlining the main diamond to signify the dinosaurs, which was what brought them together in the first place so many years ago. "That's why I want to ask you if it's alright if we let Maisie change her name to Dearing-Grady. Give that sweet girl over there a new last name…a new start. Hell, it can just be Dearing for all I care…I'll change my last name to Dearing too. I'm sure you would probably love that!" Claire's shock broke with a laugh. "Claire? Will you marry me? Make me the happiest man alive?" Maisie ran up to them and said, "Oh Claire, please say yes!" Claire sobbed and shook her head yes, then said "Yes," completely in tears. Owen slipped the ring on her finger…it fit perfectly. He stood, still holding her hand in his. She stood from the swing and up on her tippy toes to kiss him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up off the ground to kiss her. She pulled away after a few seconds and said "Yes Owen, oh my God, yes!!" He lowered her back down to the ground, but never took his hands from her waist. They kissed again and then embraced in a huge hug. The tough ex-military man/raptor trainer was now in a complete tear fest with the woman of his dreams. "You are the most beautiful thing in the world. I love you so much!" "I love you too, Owen!" Claire's words were muffled from the shaking in her voice. She still couldn't believe he just proposed to her.

Maisie jumped up and down and said, "Yes! I knew it!" Claire pulled away and looked at Maisie, confused. "You knew what?" Claire was confused for once in her life? This amused Owen and he and Maisie looked at each other and smiled. Claire gasped, "Maisie, you knew about this?!" Still in his embrace she slapped his chest. "I can't believe you knew about this!" She wasn't mad at Maisie at all, just shocked still. Owen had taught her his slick ways already. Owen pulled Maisie in for a group hug and Claire started crying again. The three of them held each other and cried for about few more minutes before going inside the cabin for the night. Group hugs and cries were becoming a theme for the evening.

Part 4:

They all changed into their pajamas and sat in the living room working on the puzzle Claire had promised Maisie. Owen was dressed in plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt, Claire in her tank top and now pajama shorts, and Maisie in her Wonder Woman pajama set she picked out at Target on their most recent outing into town. They finished half of the puzzle when Maisie started yawning. It was close to 11:00p.m., way past Maisie's bedtime, even though it was the weekend. The time had gotten away from all of them with all the excitement going on that evening. Claire told Maisie to tell Owen goodnight and she would put her to bed. She walked over to the couch and gave Owen a big hug and kiss and then walked over to Claire who was sitting Indian style on the floor by the coffee table and jumped in her lap. Claire grumbled in a nice way at the weight suddenly forced upon her. Maisie was small for a 10 year old, but she was still mighty in her jump! Owen gave Claire a worried look. He was worried Maisie had hurt Claire's leg where the scar was but Claire assured him she was fine. Claire was just happy to have a kid who loved her so much. One of her greatest fears was always that if she ever did become a parent, that she wouldn't be a good one. Maisie and Owen proved her wrong of this fear every day. Maisie showed her appreciation to them again for the amazing gift they had given her that day. "Thank you both for adopting me. Thank you both for everything. I'm so happy and I love you both so much!" She hugged Claire and Claire kissed her on the forehead and got up to put her to bed.

She sat on the edge of Maisie's bed and tucked her in. Most kids her age would have said they were too old to be tucked in but Maisie enjoyed it. With everything she had been through in the past year, she liked the safety of someone tucking her safely under her covers at night. She felt safe with Claire and Owen. She knew they had nothing but her best interest at heart. Maisie looked down at Claire's ring. "It's so pretty!" "Yes it is, thank you," Claire said, "He did a good job. Did you help him pick it out?" She still couldn't believe this tiny little girl knew about Owen's big secret and didn't spill the beans. She really was wiser than her 10 years. "No, he did that part all on his own, but he did show it to me after he bought it a month ago." Claire thought about what Maisie just said. She was dumbfounded. He had been hiding this ring from her for a whole month. She couldn't believe it. She did most of the laundry in the house and kept all the closets and drawers organized. Where on Earth was he hiding this thing for a whole month?! "That man," she said as she rolled her eyes and smiled up at the ceiling. Maisie gave her a quick smirk and chuckled. Neither of them noticed Owen watching and listening from Maisie's doorway. He was totally in love with both of his girls. Claire gave Maisie a kiss and got up from the bed.

Owen ran back into the living room before Claire noticed he had been watching from Maisie's doorway. When she walked back into the living room she could hear music playing softly in the background. Owen turned around from the stereo system and held out a hand for Claire. "Owen, I don't dance, you know that." "Tonight, you start," he smiled at her and took her hand in his. Owen had a mix of old and new love songs that he knew Claire was a fan of. They danced to a couple of different songs in their pajamas, one being Ed Sheeran's "Dancing In the Dark", another being The Temptations' "My Girl." His personal favorite, Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love" came on next and Owen held Claire close the whole time as they swayed around slowly in circles, neither of them really knowing how to dance properly. They didn't care. Her arms were wrapped around his neck while his were wrapped around her waist and they stayed close whispering "I love you's" in each other's ears a couple of times, followed by passionate kisses on the lips. In between kisses she rested her head on his chest. Irma Thomas's "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is" ended up being the last song they danced to. It had put them both in the mood for a little more than dancing so Owen turned off the stereo while Claire turned off the living room lights and they walked down the hall to their bedroom hand in hand and locked the door behind them in case a certain little girl got up for anything in the middle of the night. They made love as quietly as they could for a few hours, careful not to wake Maisie. Whispering sweet nothings and "I love you's" to each other over and over again, they kept their hands clasped together the whole time. Owen told Claire countless times how beautiful she was and she told him how happy he made her.

They finally settled down after a little while and Claire eventually fell asleep in Owen's arms. Owen couldn't fall asleep. It had been a big day for all three of them. He managed to keep both of these monumental secrets intact until the right day and time. He was proud of himself. He lied there watching Claire sleep in his arms, her arm draped across his chest. He woke up many mornings with her in this same position so he figured this was her favorite position to sleep in and he didn't mind at all. His mind wandered back through everything that had happened since he first met Claire. He went all the way back to their first introduction and first disastrous date that ended in a heated "good" way, a result of the immediate attraction to each other that neither of them were ever really good at hiding. He thought about the incident at Jurassic World and how he fell in love with her the moment he saw a tear fall down her cheek while she barely put her hand over his with a dying Apatosaurus beneath them. He thought about their time together after the incident and the break up. He thought about the return to Isla Nublar, Blue, what happened at Lockwood's mansion and of course, Maisie. He thought about all the days and nights they spent in between all of that, the arguing , the love making, the things they had in common and the things he knew they would disagree on for the rest of their lives. It was all he could do not to wake her up and tell her again how much he loved her. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He ran his hand over her back and arm as gently as he could without waking her. She smelled like vanilla. She ALWAYS smelled like vanilla. She slept so peacefully when she was in his arms. The nightmares she still had occasionally seemed to be nonexistent whenever she was in his arms. She really was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. He smiled and closed his eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.

Part 5:

Owen woke up the next morning and looked at the clock on the night stand. Claire was so used to waking up by 6:00 a.m. every morning that her body had become its own alarm clock and she didn't need to set an alarm anymore. She was usually awake by no later than 6:30 a.m., even on weekends. However, she was still sound asleep in his arms and the clock read 8:30 a.m. After a few more minutes, she started stirring and finally opened her eyes and looked up at him. He was lying there gazing lovingly at her, something he could have easily done for the rest of the day. Claire shifted her weight up to him a little and kissed him sleepily but passionately on the lips and then laid her head back on his chest, her arm now wrapped loosely around his neck and shoulder.

They lied there quietly until 9:00 a.m. and then Claire got out of bed. She picked up her tank top and pajama shorts from the accent chair between the bed and the huge window that overlooked the lake behind the cabin and put them back on. "My God, you are so beautiful," Owen told her this all the time, but he suddenly couldn't stop repeating it since the night before when he pulled the ring out of his pocket. "You're not so bad looking yourself, Mr. Dearing," Claire quipped. She could have stayed in bed with him all day too, but they had a child to feed, a child they couldn't be happier to feed. "I'm making breakfast this morning. What will it be, Mr. Dearing, pancakes or waffles?" Claire chuckled. She was clearly getting a lot of amusement out of Owen's suggestion to change his last name to hers. Owen couldn't help but smile and laugh back at her. She was so cute. "Waffles," he said. "I like waffles better too, so good answer, but you're cleaning the waffle iron when we're done." Claire winked at him and walked to the kitchen. Owen lied in bed for a few more minutes laughing on the inside at Claire's new favorite name for him. He remembered back when she would only call him Mr. Grady. She had come such a long way.

When he went to the kitchen he found Maisie sitting on the kitchen counter helping Claire flip pancakes. "What happened to waffles?" Owen asked and Claire rolled her eyes, this time playfully at him and said, "Maisie wanted pancakes instead." That sweet little girl had them both wrapped around her finger. Owen noticed a note on the refrigerator with a phone number written on it in Claire's handwriting. It was the number to the lawyer's office with MONDAY written underneath it. Claire noticed Owen looking at the note. Before he had a chance to question what the note was for, Claire joked, "It's to go ahead and get yours and Maisie's last name changed to Dearing." Neither of them had yet discussed when a wedding would take place, but Claire was determined to give Maisie her wish as soon as possible, instead of waiting for the two of them to get married. Owen walked over and kissed both of them on the cheek, then kissed Claire on the lips. "Mr. Dearing, if you distract me and make me burn these pancakes, you have to cook new pancakes for us," Claire winked at Maisie. Maisie also liked Claire's new running joke and laughed. "So I take it we're all going to be Dearings, huh?" Owen asked, although he honestly didn't mind at all.

Claire finished the pancakes and asked Maisie to go have a seat at the kitchen table, and that she and Owen would be in there to eat with her momentarily. "Owen, Maisie wants to change her last name to Dearing-Grady." Claire hesitated. "And I hope you're okay if I do the same when we get married." Owen never wanted Claire to completely change her last name to his. He knew that was part of her identity and that she would not want to lose a part of what made her so independent. "Claire, I don't care what your last name is, as long as I get to hold you in my arms every night for the rest of my life." Claire teared up a little but stopped herself. "C'mon, let's go eat breakfast." They walked hand in hand to the kitchen table and sat down with Maisie who had almost finished her silver dollar pancakes Claire made just for her. After breakfast, Owen helped Claire and Maisie finish their puzzle, his patience tested every time a piece came up missing. Claire managed to find it every time though, of course. She had always been good at piecing together the things that were out of place, at work, at home, in life in general. Owen thought about buying her a pair of Wonder Woman pajamas to match Maisie's.

After they finished the puzzle, the three of them went for a walk around the lake. Claire and Owen held hands as Maisie walked a few steps in front of them. Owen showed Maisie how to skip rocks on the lake and Claire showed Maisie how she could pick Owen up off the ground when he stumbled on a rock by the lake and fell halfway in the water. Maisie was amused and impressed. Owen was impressed too, as he remembered the first time Claire did that after saving his life in the middle of a Pteranodon fiasco. He liked a woman who could match him in strength and also be completely vulnerable with him at the same time.

That evening they curled up on the couch together back in their pajamas and watched E.T. Claire was ecstatic to learn that her favorite childhood movie was also Maisie's favorite. Owen had Claire in his arm and Claire had Maisie in her arm, all three sets of their feet in socks, perched on the ottoman in front of them. Owen and Claire knew in reality that every day would not be this perfect, with busy work schedules and meetings and school schedules but they both knew what they had in each other and in Maisie was special and rare and they had no plans of taking that for granted. After everything that had happened over the past year for Maisie and over the past several years for Claire and Owen, they had finally found their family, especially Claire. Something she never thought she needed or wanted turned out to be the thing she needed and wanted most and Owen could see the shift in her. Her transformation was the most beautiful thing to him. They put in another movie but soon fell asleep on the couch together. This wasn't the first time this had happened, nor would it be the last. The three of them had found their home in each other. Dinosaurs had brought them together so long ago. And love held them together. Love and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and love.