Many mothers look forward to Mother's Day. A day their kids pamper and shower their mom with love and adoration. This Mother's Day took Claire by surprise. Besides calling her mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, she didn't even realize the day now involved her. Owen and Claire never even thought of celebrating mother's or father's day. It never came up in conversation. They've had Maisie for 3 months and the new family of 3 was too tied up in falling into a routine than worrying about a holiday which never involved either of them.
It wasn't until one night, a few days before Mother's day did Maisie approach Owen while he was outside working on the cabin. Claire was working late, so for Maisie the conversation she wanted to have would have to be now or never.
She paced back and forth below where Owen was working on the cabin. Too involved in his work to even notice she was there. Maisie paused and looked up at him on the ladder, just to lock her lips in a tight line and continue pacing again. Pausing once more, the words left her mouth before she could stop herself. "Hey, Owen?" She squeaked, her hands shaking. Her heart pounded in her chest, nervous about the thought inside her head.
"What's up?" He asked, his back towards her as he continued to hammer the beam in place.
"Erm... I, well, I want to ask you something." Maisie stuttered, immediately catching Owen's attention.
He stopped hammering and slowly turned towards her. His eyes studied her face intently. When he noticed the seriousness and fear in her eyes, he climbed down the ladder and paused in front of her. "Everything ok?" He asked warily.
Maisie shrugged and looked down at her feet, kicking a rock lightly.
Owen sat down on the front steps and patted the spot next to him. "What is it?" He asked when she sat beside him. He studied the way she was starring down at the ground and how her fingers nervously tugged on the hem of her shirt.
"It's about Claire." Maisie whispered.
"Oh?" Owen raised an eyebrow in confusion. Slight terror ripping through him as his mind raced with different things that could be wrong with Claire. "She ok?" He patted his pockets realizing he didn't have his phone on him. "Did she call?"
Maisie shook her head. "She's fine. Your phone is on the table in the van. No one called."
Owen gripped his shirt over his heart, trying to get it to beat slower. "Good." He sighed. "Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry, it's nothing like that." She nibbled on her bottom lip.
Owen placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. He waited until she looked up at him to speak, "You know you can come to Claire or myself anytime, for anything."
Maisie nodded. "I know." This was not the first time Maisie heard him or Claire tell her that.
"So lay it on me, kiddo."
She took a deep breath before speaking, the words coming out in a rush. "I was thinking of making something for Claire... for Mother's Day. Some of the kids at school are talking about what they are doing. I've never had a mom to celebrate." She scratched the back of her head and quickly changed her mind as she watched Owen's mouth fall open. "I mean, it's kinda crazy if you think about it. I don't think she'll—"
Owen composed himself, realizing his reaction was giving her the wrong impression. He was quick to cut her off. "No, no, Maisie. I think that's a great idea. I didn't even think about it. I mean, not that we don't think of you as our daughter. Claire would really like if you made her something for Mother's Day."
A smile slowly crept across her face. "You really think so?"
Owen nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "I know so, kiddo. She'll be touched.
Maisie's excitement getting the best of her, she leaped to her feet, bouncing in front of Owen. "Can you help me?"
"Of course! What did you have in mind?" He quickly went through a list of his own handmade gifts to his mother through the years. Most of them were handprints with a poem, but Maisie was a little too old for something like that.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Maisie rustling through the scrap wood pile. He watched her choose a square piece and hurried back over to him. She handed over the wood and Owen looked at it carefully. "I want to make a sign for the cabin. Can you drill our names on it? All three of our names?" Maisie wondered, suddenly feeling embarrassed again by Owen's wide-eyed look and her gaze dropped to her feet.
Owen mentally kicked himself for not hiding his reactions better. "Hey," he took the wood in one hand and reached for her with the other, hooking his finger under her chin so she was looking up at him. "I don't think you could have come up with anything more perfect."
Maisie's eyes lit up and she threw her arms around his waist. "It'll be like I belong. It'll show everyone who comes to visit that we are a family."
Owen took the pencil from behind his ear and handed it to Maisie. "Why don't you draw out our names, big enough so I can carve it out. This way it'll all be in your handwriting."
"Yeah!" Maisie cheered and took the piece of wood and pencil from Owen. She hurried up onto the porch and sprawled out on her belly to start drawing.
Owen stood back and smiled as he watched her create the family plaque. Thinking back through the last three months, Claire and Owen quickly grew very fond of Maisie. She had attached herself to both of them, and if it wasn't for Claire's fight, they may not have gained custody of her at all. He glanced down at his wedding band and smiled. Things may have moved very quickly between them in the last few months, but they are happy. Together they stand as a united front, both refusing to let the other go this time.
"How's this?" Maisie asked, pulling Owen from his thoughts.
He walked over to where she was now sitting up, the piece of wood on her lap. Along the top had each of their names and below that in bold letters read Dearing-Grady. "This is perfect Maisie." He swallowed the lump in his throat as he saw the three names together above his and Claire's hyphenated last names.
"Thanks!" Maisie said excitedly.
Owen checked his watch and took the piece of wood from Maisie. "Claire will be here soon, so we'll hide it back in the wood pile. She'll never see it."
Maisie quickly took it from his hands, "I'll hide it!" she called out as she ran towards the scrap wood. She was on her way back to Owen when Claire's headlights flashed across them.
"Perfect timing!" Owen held his hand up and Maisie slapped him a high-five before running towards Claire.
"How are the dinosaurs?" Maisie asked, holding the car door open for Claire.
Claire smiled warmly at Maisie. This was a question she asks every day. "They are doing well." Most of the dinosaurs were transferred over to the sanctuary, but they still had a few they needed to track down. "I saw Blue on the live feed."
Maisie's eyes widened and her smile grew. "Tell her I said hi."
Claire giggled, "I will." The two started walking towards Owen who was sporting a huge grin. He couldn't hold back his excitement as we watched Claire and Maisie interact. "What have you guys been up to?" Claire wondered, knowing it was now dark, but the two of them were still outside.
"Nothing," they both said at the same time.
Claire raised an eyebrow, already knowing Owen could never keep a secret. She was now realizing Maisie was just as bad. "You sure about that?" She asked Maisie.
"Yeah!" Maisie yelled and hurried towards the fire pit. "Owen got steaks to cook over the fire."
Claire took careful note how quickly she changed the subject. She slowly turned towards Owen who refused to look her in the eye. "What did you do?"
He immediately took her arms and his eyes softened. "Please let this go. Maisie is excited and I'm begging you to not start drilling us."
"O…kay," Claire responded slowly. She knew it was going to be hard to try and pull whatever it is out of Owen, but glancing over at Maisie she smiled at her seeing that whatever secret they had was making her ecstatic. "Fine," she sighed and leaned in to peck his lips. "I won't pry, but you know I hate surprises."
Owen slowly shook his head, his smile growing. "You're going to love this one."
Claire rolled her eyes. "That's not helping."
Mother's day finally came, as Maisie and Owen made the finishing touches on the plaque, Claire spent her morning on her laptop, keeping up with some emails. It was around lunchtime when the pair wondered back inside for sandwiches. Claire was just hanging up the phone, wishing her mom a Happy Mother's Day. She watched them silently move about the small space as they made their lunch.
"Want something?" Owen called over his shoulder.
Claire began to clear the small table. "Yeah, turkey, please."
The three sat in silence as they ate their lunch. Claire didn't miss the moments when Maisie and Owen would lock eyes and smile at the other. She locked her lips in a tight line to try and not question them.
"I'm done." Maisie announced as she pushed her plate away from her.
"Me, too." Owen added and stood up, followed by Maisie.
"Hey!" Claire called after them, but they were already out the door. Claire looked at the mess on the table and rolled her eyes. "I'm not your maid!" She yelled over her shoulder, knowing they couldn't hear her.
By the time she was finished cleaning up from lunch, Owen walked back into the van. He reached around Claire and took the sponge out of her hand. She looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at him and snatched the sponge back. "I'm cleaning up your mess." She snapped.
Owen took the sponge out of her hand again and tossed it into the sink. "And I want to show you why." He tugged at her hips and she turned in his arms.
He pulled his handkerchief out of his back pocket and Claire instinctively took a step back, shaking her head. "What is that for?"
"Just trust me." He smiled and folded the hankie in half, bringing it up to her face.
She brought her hand up to stop him. "I'm not wearing that."
He nodded slowly and gripped her shoulder. "Yeah, you are." She groaned loudly, but let him turn her so her back was towards him.
"Is she blindfolded?" Maisie asked from behind Owen.
"Yeah, hold the door open." He told her as he finished tying the hankie in place.
"Whatever you guys have to show me, can't you trust me to keep my eyes closed?" Claire asked and reached up to touch the cloth blinding her. Not having her sight had her slightly panicked. Her arms flailed around when no one answered her. "Owen?" She spun around and her hands flew to her face, gripping the blindfold. Strong hands gripped her wrists to keep her from taking it off.
Owen could sense the fear coming from Claire and he spoke softly to her. "It'll come off in a minute. I'm right here."
Her shoulders relaxed when he laced his fingers with hers. Carefully he guided her forward and out of the van. She felt the warm sun on her skin and stumbled forward blindly. "Owen," Claire complained when he led her a few more feet. She tripped for what seemed like the tenth time.
Owen chuckled and stepped around her, both his arms wounding around her waist to help stabilize her. "Ok," he whispered, his lips at her ear. dipped his head and kissed her neck before stepping away from her.
"Ok, what? Can I take this off now?" Claire asked. She felt Owen move away from her and her hands instinctively flailed out to search for him.
"Take it off!" Maisie instructed.
Without hesitation, Claire clawed at the blindfold and tugged it down until it hung around her neck. She blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the light.
"Tada!" Maisie smiled and held her hands over her head.
Claire glanced above Maisie at the sign hanging on the porch. "Oh!" She gasped and turned towards Owen who was walking towards Maisie. "Did you make that?"
Owen placed a hand on Maisie's shoulder. "I did the carving, but it was Maisie's idea."
He gave her shoulder a slight shake and Maisie swallowed hard and tried the best she could to get the words above a whisper, "Happy Mother's Day."
The two silently watched Claire's eyes grow wide, tears quickly trickled down her cheeks. She brought her hands up to grip her stomach, the overflowing emotions had her suddenly sick to her stomach.
"Do you like it?" Maisie asked warily. She was unsure how to interpret Claire's reaction.
"I…" Claire trailed off as she looked back up at the sign signifying them as a complete family. She choked on a sob and nodded, unable to find her voice.
Maisie looked up at Owen, still confused by Claire's reaction. Owen patted her back. "Good tears, kiddo. She loves it." He explained.
"Yeah," Claire nodded, trying desperately to get her emotions under control. "It's perfect."
Maisie's smile lit up her face and she leaped off the porch, running into Claire's open arms. "I never had a mom to celebrate."
Claire leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "I'm honored."