Claire awoke with a start unable to recall what had made her feel so uneasy, until the events of the night before came rushing back to her.
It had been two weeks since her and Owen had overheard Maisie's conversation with Lucky, and they still hadn't said anything to her. Claire wanted desperately to talk to her about everything she had confessed, but Owen argued that they never should have heard the conversation in the first place, therefore they should let Maisie decide when she was ready to talk to them. At first Claire went along with it feeling guilty for evasdropping, but after two weeks Claire was getting restless. Upon brining it up to Owen again last night they got into a full blown argument, unable to agree on what was the best course of action. Their fight painfully reminded Claire of the long nights right before they had broken up in which it felt like they couldn't agree on anything. Eventually she broke down in tears as her mind went into overdrive thinking about what would happen if Owen left again. She refused to talk to him after that so Owen retreated to the living room.
Now she found herself in bed contemplating what to do next, but coffee and some breakfast seemed like the best option so she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Owen was already up making pancakes as he usually did on the weekends, but Maisie, usually an early riser, was not there. Lucky was following Owen around the kitchen looking for scraps, and Claire couldn't help but smile. He was as happy as ever, and Claire envied his obliviousness.
"Have you seen Maisie yet?" She asked.
"No. She's probably still asleep." Owen responded curtly.
Claire tried not to be offended by Owens sharp tone as she went to check on Maisie. Her heart rate started to quicken when she found the bed empty.
"Maisie" she called, checking the bathroom, also finding it empty.
It was unlike the girl to disappear without saying anything, and Claire was trying not to panic. She made her way back downstairs, "Owen, Maisie's missing!"
"I'm sure she's not missing, did you check the bathroom?"
"Yes. Of course I checked the bathroom, I'm not an idiot Owen!"
Owen sighed as a he put down the spatula.
"Ok lets try to figure this out calmly. She probably went for a walk or something."
Claire tried to take a deep breath but she wasn't very good at this whole "calm" thing like Owen was.
Owen turned off the stove top and grabbed Lucky's leash as the three of them made their way outside calling Maisie's name. She wasn't on the porch nor near the lake, and both Claire and Owen started to feel more apprehensive. They shared a worried glance but it was cut short by Luckys barking. He immediately started pulling against the leash towards the woods so Claire and Owen decided to follow him.
He led them straight to the base of a tree where Maisie was perched high above.
"Maisie there you are." Claire sighed in relief.
The young girl just turned her head away refusing to look down at the confused adults.
"Maisie, is everything ok?" Owen asked. Maisie just shook her head "no" in response.
"Ok. Well why don't you come down so we can talk?"
It was only then that Maisie turned her head towards them, and Claire could make out her tear stained cheeks. She seemed to think about Owens request for a second before carefully making her way down. As soon as her feet hit the ground Claire enveloped Maisie in a bone crushing hug. The girl's sniffles could still be heard but for the most part her tears had stopped.
"Maisie, honey, can you tell us what's going on?" Claire asked gently.
"I-I heard you two fighting about-about me last night." Maisie hiccuped. "Did I do something wrong?"
Claire felt her chest tighten and she could almost guarantee the same thing happened to Owen.
"No. Maisie, Claire and I were fighting last night, and it was about you, but it wasn't because of you. We overheard you on the walkie talkie a few weeks ago tell Lucky you wanted to call us mom and dad, and we weren't sure if we should talk to you about it. I wanted to wait and let you come to us, but Claire didn't. Maisie it was stupid, and we shouldn't have let it get as heated as it did, but both of us are still figuring out this parenting thing, and we didn't want to make the wrong choice."
Claire looked back at Owen who took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Maisie, who still hadn't looked either one of them in the eye, just responded by nodding.
"Maisie, Owen and I love you, more than you probably realize. We know we aren't your birth parents, and this isn't a "normal" situation, but it doesn't change the fact that we love you. A lot. There was a point in time where I had convinced myself that having kids would be a mistake, and that my career was more important, but Maisie I was wrong. I was so wrong. You make my life so much better. You're adventurous, and fearless. You're smart and funny, but most importantly you're beautiful on the inside and out. Maisie, I would be honored if you called me mom, but I also understand that you may not want to do that now, or ever. Whatever you choose I want you to know that I will love you no matter what."
Maisie finally looked up and met Claire's eyes before hugging Claire with all the force her little body could muster.
It was Maisie who finally pulled back grinning through happy tears, "I'd love to call you mom." Owen awkwardly cleared his throat from behind Claire.
"Maisie, I've never been as good with words as Claire has, but I couldn't agree more with what she said. I love you so much kiddo, and whether you call me dad or not won't change anything."
Maisie just giggled before saying, "Of course I want to call you dad!" She ran into Owens arms, careful not to trip on the leash attached to an unusually patient pup. Claire thought it was almost like Lucky knew this was an important conversation, and for that she was grateful.
Owen grinned and said "Alright then. But I do have to say, next time you're upset about something please come talk to us. You have no idea how worried we were when we couldn't find you."
"I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to having parents too, and I just couldn't stand the thought of you guys being angry at each other because of something I did."
"Maisie, I can't promise that Owen and I won't ever fight again. That's what happens when you really love someone. You fight with them. And I'm sure at some point in your life you're going to get mad at us and fight with us too. But the great part about family is that you can fight, and everyone will continue to love each other."
"I like being a family." Maisie replied.
"Us too sweetheart." Claire and Owen said in unison.
"How bout we go back to the cabin now. I've got some pancakes and bacon ready to be cooked." Owen stated.
At the mention of bacon Lucky started barking and wagging his tail causing the trio to laugh.
Maisie grabbed both of their hands as they made their way back to the cabin and Claire couldn't help feel like it was a truly perfect moment. She was with a man she loved, a very cute puppy, and best of all, her daughter.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed, I really appreciate it! This chapter was a little harder to write than I thought because I really wanted to focus on the conversation between Claire, Owen, and Maisie which didn't leave me a whole lot of room to work Lucky into the story. Sorry about that. I do have more ideas for potential chapters so if you want to see more please let me know! Also if there's anything you'd like to see worked into the story, leave a review and I will see what I can do!
-N