Disclaimer: I do not own the Jurassic Park franchise or any of it's characters; I only own the characters and plots of my own mind.

3. Dream Come True

Gwyn bounced up and down in her seat in excitement, craning her neck to see what they were approaching. Ian teasingly placed his hand on the top of her head to keep her still, making a joke about potential and kinetic energy. Alan rolled his eyes and pointed ahead of them to draw Gwyn's attention to the road ahead. There was a fence easily thirty feet tall, where thick wires ran between support beams, at the top of which were two colored lights––one orange, and one blue. They pulsated rhythmically, one at a time, and made a slight buzzing sound. Large signs were attached to the fence as well, reading: DANGER: 10,000 VOLTS. There was a cage-like section that operated like a gate, big enough to allow the jeeps through. As they were ushered through, Gwyn tipped her head back and smiled at the cloudless sky that shone above them. She had no clue as to what was in store for them––for all they knew it was some Indiana Jones-esque sort of place––but she was undeniably excited. Even if the park ended up being deathly boring, it was exciting enough to be in a tropical location. It was filled with plants and geological… things that Gwyn had never seen before.

"What do you think the fence is for?" Gwyn asked, craning around to stare over Hammond and Gennaro's jeep. Alan did the same, staring at the industrial fence that stretched into the thick jungle around them.

"I don't know…" he murmured, a slight furrow forming between his brows.

As they trundled along the uneven dirt roads, Ellie reached out a hand and snatched a leaf stalk off a passing plant. She held it up at face level, eyes narrowing as she observed its veining and fronds and whatnot, turning it this way and that to get a full view on it. Gwyn stretched forward in her seat, resting her elbows on the driver's and passenger's seats, ignoring Alan's protest of her moving around so much in a moving vehicle that had no roof. The eleven year old peered over Ellie's shoulder, staring at the piece of foliage she was pinching between her fingers and observing over the tops of her sunglasses.

"What kind of leaf is it?" Gwyn asked. Ellie shook her head in disbelief as she pinched one of the small leafs between her pointer finger and thumb.

"It's a alethopteris valida. But it's… from the carboniferous era––at least three-hundred-fifty-nine million years ago…" Ellie trailed off, handing it off to Gwyn. She pressed a fist to her mouth as Gwyn turned it over in her own hands, offering up a small shrug. It didn't look much different than anything she'd encountered before.

"It looks like a fern," Gwyn pointed out flatly, a tone in her voice that greatly reminded the paleobotanist of Alan. Gwyn took after Alan so greatly that it sometimes took people aback; but Ellie just found it incredibly endearing. Ellie nodded and shifted in her seat so she could face Gwyn better, adjusting her sunglasses, which had slid down the bridge of her nose.

"Well, it is. But it's a seed fern and thus a part of an extinct family of gymnosperms. These ferns used to reproduce with seeds instead of, say, pollination," Ellie explained. She shook her head and bit lightly at her thumb-nail. "But… it's been extinct for… millions of years… this shouldn't be here…"

Gwyn was thrown back into her seat as the jeep switched to an alternate, more off-road route. Alan caught his daughter and curled an arm around her middle to hold her down as the jeep bounced again. Gwyn grabbed hold of his sleeve and cast Ian an apologetic look, seeing as she'd accidentally kicked him in the knee. Alan glared at the back of the driver's head through his aviator sunglasses.

"Hey, could you be more careful?" he shot forward at the employee. The driver just smiled at the paleontologist in the rear-view mirror.

"Sorry 'bout that. The terrain is gonna be a bit bumpy for a little bit," he told them. Alan peered out of the jeep and noticed that they were no longer on any sort of devised path.

"There's no road," Alan pointed out. The driver just smiled and continued to navigate their way over rocky, bumpy ground. "I said, there's no road."

"I know," the driver chuckled. Ellie stared at the man for a moment before snatching up a map from off the dashboard. She traced the road they'd been on moments before with her finger… there were no other roads branching off from it. No other paths. They were officially off road. But something else caught the paleobotanist's eye––another plant that shouldn't have been there. Reaching out again, she snagged a leaf, that was the size of both her hands, and stared at it in awe. Gwyn, who was now sitting at an awkward angle whilst tucked into Alan's side, shared a look with her father.

The jungle thinned out, eventually opening up to vast grass land and rolling hills. Trees dotted the landscape, lush and green, providing pools of shade here and there. The sky had just barely begun to cloud over, though it didn't seem to threaten rain; if anything, it made the atmosphere cooler, more bearable. The jeep crested a hill and then carefully climbed down it, jumping as it met the bottom and then hung a left around a tree. Gwyn was boredly twirling the fern stalk in her hand, wondering if Ellie––as brilliant as she was––had made a mistake about the type of plant it was. Because if this type of plant had been extinct for as long as Ellie said it had been, there wasn't any conceivable way for it to be there on the island. The jeep suddenly rolled to a stop, leaving them paused in the middle of a grassy field.

"This shouldn't be here…" Ellie murmured, still staring down at the map, not taking a good glance at their surroundings.

But Alan wasn't distracted by strange plants. He was free to look around, and what he saw just about stopped his heart from the jolt of shock, awe, and excitement it received. He slowly began to turn in his seat, facing the edge of the open top jeep, reaching out a hand to grasp the side. His brows drew themselves together as he spotted a large creature grazing at one of the trees. No, it wasn't large… it was massive, gargantuan. It was grey in color, standing on four thick legs, and its neck was long and curved. Alan whipped off his hat and dropped it into Gwyn's lap, which drew her out of her staring match with the fern. Her father grabbed hold of the jeep's roof framing and hauled himself upward, whipping off his sunglasses once he was fully up. Gwyn craned her head around her father to see what he was seeing, but was blocked by his legs.

"Alan, this species of veriform has been extinct since the cretaceous period. I mean this thing––" Ellie was cut off when Alan physically took hold of her head with one hand and turned it to the left, directing her gaze somewhere else. What she saw made her drop the leaf and scramble to stand up on her seat. Her sunglasses were then discarded and forgotten on the floor; and that was when Gwyn saw it.

A brachiosaurus.

Gwyn's mouth dropped open as it peacefully lumbered by, stopping at a tree not but a hundred feet away to munch on the top leaves. Reaching up, she took hold of Alan's shirt sleeve and tugged. And tugged again. She continued to tug frantically till he acknowledged with a slight nod that he saw what she was seeing. Alan then jumped out of the jeep and reached back, arms extended for Gwyn as he kept an eye on the utterly impossible creature that stood before them. Gwyn walked straight into her father's waiting hands, grabbed his shoulders, and allowed him to pull her from the jeep. It couldn't be possible. What they were seeing couldn't be possible. While cautiously approaching it a few steps behind her father, Gwyn couldn't help but grin. Her heart was thrumming, her cheeks were hurting, and a thrilling sense of wonder was building up in her chest. Alan turned to face Ellie and Gwyn and pointed up to the brachiosaurus with awe plain on his face; he looked like a little boy who had just seen his favorite superhero in person.

"It's a dinosaur…" Alan murmured. Ellie nodded and uttered a shocked,

"Uh-huh…"

"That's…" Gwyn murmured in awe, stumbling forward a few steps. "That's a brachiosaurus!" As she continued to step towards the massive long-necked herbivore, Alan immediately lurched forward and grabbed hold of her wrist, drawing her back against his chest. He placed both hands on her shoulders and squeezed, conveying both a silent plea to stay put and his own excitement. "Dad… that's a brachiosaurus!"

"I know… I know!" he exclaimed excitedly, the two Grants grinning like crazy. The brachiosaurus was Gwyn's favorite dinosaur. She didn't know how this was possible, but it was real. She could she flesh move and muscle shift under thick, wrinkled, grey skin. Could feel the ground shake as it moved its giant feet. Hear its groaning call as it opened its mouth and munched on leaves and branches. It was real; and Gwyn had never felt so excited in her life. It was like getting to see your favorite exotic animal at the zoo, but ten thousand times better; it was seeing the most exotic, impossible creature on earth. Letting go of his daughter's shoulders, Alan moved forward till he stood at a distance that could be classified as too close. He shielded his eyes from the now present sun and tilted his head back to stare up its impossibly long neck. "Ellie, we can tear up the rule book on cold-bloodedness; it doesn't apply, they're totally wrong! This is a warm blooded creature. They're totally wrong!"

"This thing doesn't live in a swamp!" Ellie laughed in disbelief. Gwyn wound her arms around Ellie's waist, grinning up at the dinosaur in front of them. Ellie stroked a hand over Gwyn's hair, which had been in a relatively neat braid until the wind from riding in the jeep had tugged a number of strands out of it. Gwyn hugged her tighter, laughing excitedly. Hammond stepped up behind the three and grinned proudly.

"That thing's got a, what, twenty-five, twenty-seven foot neck?" Alan asked Hammond.

"The brachiosaur? Thirty," he corrected with a happy, but matter-of-fact tone. Alan laughed in happy disbelief, threading fingers through the front of his hair to brush it off his forehead.

They all watched as the brachiosaurus rose up on its hind legs and rose a couple more feet, biting down on the top most branches of the skinny-trunked tree. Gwyn placed both hands over her mouth to hide what she was sure was a goofy looking grin. It was so agile! So sure of its movements. Gwyn laughed when the impact of its feet meeting the ground again made them all stumble. She didn't recover from the stumble too well, though. She fell flat on her bottom, but that didn't bother her in the least bit.

"How fast?" Gwyn asked, pointing to the brachiosaurus excitedly. It lowered its head slightly and looked down at the comparitively tiny humans below itself, staring at them with glossy eyes as it munched on its leafy meal.

"How fast are they?" Alan asked at the same time as his daughter, sounding out of breath from how excited he was. The look on Hammond's face clearly displayed how blatantly proud he was that this was all going so brilliantly.

"Well, we clocked the t-rex at thirty-two miles an hour," Hammond mentioned casually, stepping forward. Gwyn's head snapped towards the white-haired man who stood to her right, mouth gaping in the most characature manner humanly possible. Ellie slowly turned to face the older man, mouth slack, steps wobbly.

"T… t-rex?" Ellie stuttered.

"Mm-hm!"

Ellie leaned forward and held out a hand. "You said you've got a t-rex?"

"Uh-huh!"

Alan lurched forward and grabbed the shorter man by both arms. He made eye-contact with him and held his gaze with the intensity of a steel trap. No one could deny the hope that the famous paleontologist had growing in his chest. "Say it again." Hammond grinned at the alan.

"We have a t-rex!"

Alan swayed on his feet and listed forward, catching himself by bracing his hands against his knees; he looked as though he might actually faint. While he hunched over, Ellie rushed forward to place a hand on his back, gently telling him to put his head between his knees. Gwyn had placed both hands on her head, mind spinning at everything that had just happened in the span of a minute. With a solid flop, she let herself fall backwards so she was lying absolutely prone in the grass, laughing as she stared up at the sky. She'd just seen a real living, breathing brachiosaurus, and now she was just told that they had a t-rex? A tyrannosaurus rex! The… kings and queens of the dinosaurs! And this island––this park had one! Gwyn rolled onto her hands and knees and crawled towards her father and Ellie, knowing that if she stood, she'd probably just fall right back over in excitement.

"Dr. Grant, Gwyn, and my dear Dr. Sattler… welcome to Jurassic Park!" Hammond said, staring out at the gorgeous dinosaur filled lands before them.

Alan, who had sat down and put his head between his knees for a brief moment, slowly looked up when they heard another destinctive cry. In a valley below them was a glittering pool of water, through which two more brachiosaurs waded; it the shores of said pond was a herd––a herd––of parasaurolophus. Alan's eyes glazed over with tears of what Gwyn assumed were pure, unadulterated joy. Gwyn rose to her knees behind her father and wound her arms tightly around his shoulders, grinning the brightest grin he'd ever seen on her face. He reached up and clasped her wrist in his palm, relaxing backwards so she could place her chin on his shoulder. Ellie crouched down beside the father and daughter with a grin, watching as the parasaurolophus moved closer to the water's edge.

"They move in herds…" Alan murmured to himself happily, staring at the parasaurolophus. "They do move in herds." Turning his head slightly towards Hammond, his next words were directed at said man. "How did you do this?"

"I'll show you," he assured in a reverently quiet voice.

Alan rose to his feet with Ellie's help and then turned to face his daughter, who was trying desperately––and failing––to wipe the excited grin off her face. She tilted her head back to look up at her father, laughing joyfully.

"There are dinosaurs," she said, still sounding shocked. "Real living dinosaurs, dad! This is… is my dream come true––our dream come true!"

Alan grinned and reached down, sweeping his daughter off the ground. He twirled her around once, causing her to giggle, before holding her to his chest, clasping her head to his shoulder. He hadn't seen her so happy in a very long time, and to see see her grinning made him grin as well. Bending his head, Alan kissed Gwyn's shoulder and then her temple, feeling her wind her arms around his neck just a bit tighter. Glancing Ellie's way, he saw that she was smiling sweetly, hands placed on her hips. He returned the smile as they made their way back towards the jeeps, sparing glances back at the brachiosaurus behind them. Gwyn simply stared up at it as her father carried her away, eyes glittering with wonder. There wasn't anything in the world that could have made her happier to have been there with her father and Ellie. Everything was simply… amazing. It was a dream come true, as she'd just said. Her heart was thrumming with excitement, her mind was working in the most pleasant form of overdrive, and as they got back into the jeeps and made for the road again, Gwyn could barely think of a single thing that could have ruined her day.

Afterword: There's chapter three! I've still been having so much fun writing this story; it's just so much fun to write Alan and Ellie and kid!Gwyn. Writing Gwyn this young is challenging, but a good kind of challenging. I hope you all had a fun time reading!

Review Replies!

CarlyJo: I'm glad the pacing it going well! I feel like the movie almost divides itself up really well and that makes it easy to pace; though, with this chapter I was tempted to write further, but realized that it would be awkward to end when they just arrive at the visitor's center. But, regardless, I'm glad that you're enjoying it! Thanks again!

d0 it like a dude: So relieved that I wrote Ian well! 'Cause he's so specifiically… Ian that I was worried I wouldn't nail his personality or get close to it. I'm gonna get some good moments between Ellie and Gwyn, since Ellie is, most certainly, Gwyn's mother figure. And I figured that Gwyn probably wouldn't have been in the third Jurassic Park movie 'cause she probably would have been… probably 19-ish(?) and headed off to/in college and Alan, for the life of him, would not let her remotely close to the islands again. I do know I'll do a couple of scenes with Gwyn in them during the third movie… like she'll be chilling with Ellie while Alan's away and panicks when she finds out that he's on the island. But… I hadn't thought of her being in the second one… that would actually be fairly interesting. Especially if she was interning/visiting Ian when all that went down. I'll give it some thought, that might be cool to write. Thanks for the ideas! I love it when people throw ideas out there, it's a lot of fun to bounce ideas off people :) Thanks again!

InfinityMars: She will definitely get along with Lex and Tim, and she'll probably seem a tad more mature than them. Also, her protectiveness over Tim, since she's older than him, will definitely come into play into a key moment. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967: I'm glad you've enjoyed it thus far! I hope you keep on reading; thanks again!

jessica18971: I'm happy that you're enjoying Gwyn and Alan having father/daughter moments––they're so much fun to write! And, thank you so very, very, very, very much for thinking/saying I have a gift! :D It literally means so much to me! Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

1066AndAllThat: Glad that you're enjoying the story so far! I hope you were pleased with the chapter; thanks again!

The Auburn Girl: Dad!Alan is probably my new weakness in terms of writing. I have so much planned for this story, though I have hit a bit of a snag at one point on how to properly get Gwyn in place in a scene… gotta figure that out and soon, ahahaha! But it's gonna be great fun to write either way it goes. I hop eyou enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

NicoleR85: Gwyn thinks its a pretty good deal so far; just wait till it all goes to shit… and that's when all the tense fun begins! I'm glad you've been enjoying it so far! Thanks again!

Lanariel Greenleaf: Super happy you're enjoying it so far! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!

And thank you to those who added this to their favorites/follows; it means a lot to me!

So that's it for now! We inch ever closer to the horrors of Jurassic Park… and I've got such plans. It's definitely gonna get feelsy up in here; especially when Gwyn gets that scar… I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter! Thanks again for taking the time to read!

~Mary