WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning got off to a better start than Tuesday morning did. Maisie woke up to find everyone else already up and moving about the apartment like normal. Claire and Owen were both tired, but managed to get a little more sleep Tuesday night than they did Monday night. Owen took Maisie to school and Claire dropped Aiden off at day care. Aiden had been in a good mood all morning, not fussing one time. She woke her parents up at 5:30am wanting to play and by the time Claire usually got to day care with her she was sleepy again, but that morning she was wide awake. She told Franklin's mom to call her if Aiden's cough got worse and she would take her to the pediatrician.

As she stepped into her office that morning, everyone was working hard on their delegated tasks. It seemed everyone had finally gotten the picture about what Claire expected out of them. She spent the day helping design posters and banners to display at the upcoming march for animal rights in the city. It wasn't a march for dinosaurs in particular but the DPG believed dinosaurs should be allowed the same rights as any other animal and they planned to make sure their posters were visible during the event in a couple of weeks.

Claire went to check on Aiden during lunch. Mrs. Webb greeted Claire with good news when she entered the infant room at the day care. "Aiden's been feeling much better today. I've only heard her cough once or twice. Her gums are still a bit itchy but she's been enjoying her teething ring. "Yeah, she won't take a pacifier. She usually sucks her thumb," Claire said. "I was a thumb sucker too. She must have gotten that from me." Mrs. Webb told Claire a lot of babies are so attached to their pacifiers, that she was lucky Aiden was saving her a few bucks somewhere. "Oh, but I'm beginning to go broke on teething rings instead!" They shared a wink and after spending her entire lunch hour with her "peanut" she went back to work.

When she got back to work that afternoon, Claire decided to check with Zia on updates on any possible dinosaur sightings. "I haven't heard of any lately. It's almost February so I think they must be hibernating or something for now. You know, they were used to island weather, not Northern California weather in the middle of winter." Claire hummed in agreement and then noticed something sticking out under a few pieces of paperwork on Zia's desk. "What's that?" Zia thought she was in trouble. It was a business card with her name, number and a picture of a camera on it. "Oh Claire, I'm sorry. I had asked James to design a logo for me for some photography I'm doing on the side. He brought me a couple of designs back today and I meant to throw them in my purse and forgot. This doesn't interfere with my work here, I promise!" Claire knew Zia was fully dedicated to her work at the DPG. She was the last person Claire had to worry about not doing her job. "Zia, calm down, it's okay. I was just curious." Zia let out a big sigh and relaxed. Claire suddenly wondered if she was paying Zia enough. "Zia, are you struggling with rent or bills or anything? Because if you need a little bit of a raise, I can afford to give you one. Lord knows you work hard enough." Zia felt bad that Claire thought by her having a side job, it meant she was underpaid. "Claire, this is just a hobby that turned into somewhat of a side gig on weekends and evenings. I have a lot of friends and former classmates who like to have their picture taken a lot and I always had an eye and love for photography and they know that and took advantage of it and it just kind of turned into a thing. But of course if you wanna give me a raise I won't turn it down!" She laughed a little and Claire put her finger over her mouth. "Shhh...I don't want everyone to hear you. Then everyone will want a raise and I can't afford to give everyone more money right now." "Claire you don't pay half these people anyway. They're interns." Claire lowered her voice a little. "Some of them are paid interns and some of them are not. It depends on the program and the college they're attending. Anyway, we can talk about your raise later. I had no idea you were doing this on the side! I think that's amazing." Zia felt relieved that her boss approved of her hobby turned side job. "Thanks, Claire. I was afraid you would think I wouldn't be focused enough at work if I told you I was doing this on the side. I wasn't intentionally trying to hide it from you, I just-" Claire, in a hushed tone, cut Zia off. "Zia, you are the hardest working person here besides me. You're my sidekick in all of this. I don't have to worry about this getting in the way of your work. And besides, if we ever need updated pictures for the website, I know who to go to now to get a good deal!" She winked at Zia and walked back to her desk. For a while Zia had wanted to bring up the fact that Claire didn't have any professional family pictures on her desk, assuming she didn't have any at home either. But she didn't know how to mention it without trying to get herself hired for the job. Now was the perfect opportunity for her to make her move. She followed Claire back to her desk. "Uh Claire, speaking of this side job of mine, you need some professional family pictures. You don't have any. Weren't these taken with your cell phone?" She pointed to two pictures on Claire's desk that were taken with her cell phone. One was of Maisie and Aiden and the other was of Claire and Owen. There was a third picture taken of Aiden from the hospital photographer. It was taken the day she was born. Claire never got to watch Aiden get her first photos taken because she was unconscious from the hemorrhaging she suffered. She was getting a blood transfusion during Aiden's first few hours of life. At Owen's nonstop request to take some maternity pictures, Claire found a photographer on Instagram and had some private maternity photos at home but never shared them with anyone outside of herself, Owen and Maisie. She didn't want to take them in the first place, fearing it would upset Maisie seeing as how she wasn't biologically theirs and never had a mother who took maternity pictures of her. Owen talked to Maisie and she was actually excited about the pictures, and they included her in some of the photos with them. Claire's favorite photo was of Maisie sitting on Owen's shoulders kissing Claire on the lips while Owen was knelt down kissing Claire's baby bump. Claire was a modest, private person when it came to that sort of content however, and she never brought the pictures to work to show Zia or anyone else, let alone display them on her desk. They stayed at home on the mantle and night stands where she felt they belonged. "Hey, what's wrong with my fancy iPhone photography, huh?" Claire got a little playfully defensive. Zia wanted to give Claire something she could cherish in return for taking a chance on her straight out of college and hiring her as her first employee of the DPG. "Claire, Aiden is almost five months old and you guys don't have any family pictures. You should let me take some, free of charge of course!" Claire thought about it for a minute and then agreed. "You know what, you're right. Aiden is getting older and I want her to have some professional baby pictures. I guess we do need to take some family shots too. I'll get with Owen tonight and see when he wants to do it and let you know. I have to coordinate outfits and everything." Zia rolled her eyes at her boss. "Of course you do."

That evening Claire tossed around the idea of a family portrait session to Owen. Zia had told Claire she was free that weekend but that she had a few things already lined up for the next few weekends after that. He thought it was a great idea. "Babe, I've been thinking the same thing! We need to take some pictures. But who do we know that can take some professional photos?" Claire smiled, happy that she had a connection. "Zia is going to take them this Saturday." Owen looked dumbfounded. He never pictured Zia as the artsy type. She was a former military girl, turned paleoveterinarian who was all about science and animals and medicine. "Zia?!" Claire sighed and responded to his shock. "Yes, Zia. She's been doing some photography on the side lately on the weekends and she showed me a few of the sessions she's done and they look great!" Owen shrugged his shoulders and agreed to it. "Hey she saved my life. I can't exactly ever say no to her again on anything, can I?" Claire shook her head. "No you can't." Maisie chimed in with her opinions of the family portrait session. "Claire, where are we going to take the pictures? And can I wear my Chucks?" Those high top black Converse tennis shoes were all the child ever wanted to wear on her feet. Claire tried to get her to occasionally wear other shoes but she clung to those high tops for dear life. At least she let Owen and Claire buy her a new, clean pair shortly after she came home to live with them. Claire had already spent that afternoon thinking through all the details of what she envisioned for their photo shoot since it was somewhat last minute. "I know where I would like to have the pictures taken," Owen remarked. Claire knew what he would say and she had the same location in mind. "I want to take them out by the cabin and the lake too." He looked at her, somewhat surprised at her response. "Really?" "Yes," she nodded back at him. "I figured you'd want to go inside of a studio where everything is crisp and pristine and perfect," he said. Claire, though she knew that would be beautiful as well, wanted her family pictures taken in the place where she enjoyed spending time with her family the most. She wanted them to be taken at the home Owen built for her, for them. "Yeah, I was thinking we could wear white or cream colored Henleys and jeans and boots since it's still cool outside. You and I both have Henleys already. I just have to go find Maisie and Aiden something similar to match. Or I could wear a white button down blouse or something. That could be our semi-dressed up look. Then we could take some in some plaid button downs and jeans and boots." All Maisie focused on was the word "boots". "Boots, huh?" Claire gave her oldest child a pleading look. "Yes, boots. It's still winter time. I'll let you pick them out though. We can go shopping tomorrow afternoon after school, how's that sound? And you can take a few pictures in your Chucks too. Maybe I'll buy you a white or cream pair to match our shirts." Claire hadn't had much of a chance to spend some one on one time with Maisie outside of the house since Aiden had been born and they both knew this was a great opportunity for them to spend some quality time together. "Owen, can you pick Aiden up from day care tomorrow evening?" He agreed, seeing how excited Maisie looked to be spending a girl's afternoon out with Claire after such a long time.

Later that night Owen ran into Maisie's room discretely while Claire nursed Aiden. He suddenly had this great idea that he could propose to Claire during the middle of their photo shoot. He had been wanting to move to this next step in his relationship with Claire for a while but wanted to figure out the perfect way to propose to her that would be both exciting and surprising. Maisie knew about the engagement ring Owen had bought for Claire before they even broke up. He had shown it to Maisie months ago and had been hiding it in one of his old Navy uniform pockets in the back of his closet, knowing Claire never messed with his uniforms and would never find it there. He had been wanting to propose to Claire for a long time and she knew it was only a matter of time anyway because they talked about it when she found out she was pregnant with Aiden but she didn't want to have a shotgun wedding and made him promise if they ever got married that it would be after Aiden was born. A lightbulb went off in his head once Claire told him about her desire to have professional family portraits taken. "Maisie, you know I want to propose to Claire at some point, right?" She nodded her head, sitting Indian style on her bed with a book in her lap. Her eyes got big with excitement when he told her of his plan. "Do you think it would be a cute idea if I proposed to Claire while we are having our family portraits taken this weekend? That way we would have the proposal documented forever!" Maisie was all for it. "Owen, yes, and I can make a sign to hold up in the pictures that says 'she said yes' on it!" The kid was creative and smart. Owen still swore sometimes she was Claire's biological child. "That's cute! I like that. I just hope she really does say yes." He winked at her but Maisie knew he was afraid of Claire's reaction to a proposal. Claire was very untraditional about certain things and although her mother was old fashioned and harped on her for having a child out of wedlock, Claire wasn't going to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. "Owen, she's going to say yes. Don't worry." "I don't know, kid. Sometimes I wonder." Claire and Owen were still working on their relationship. They had grown to love each other more than ever since the second incident and bringing Maisie home with them, and Aiden's birth only locked their love in even more, but there was still that battle for control between them which sometimes still caused them to butt heads and want to strangle each other. However, they had vowed to communicate with each other better and work towards the bigger goal and be better for each other and for their children. "Owen, I love this idea. You have to do it!" Claire suddenly showed up in Maisie's doorway and Owen jumped when he heard her voice. "What kind of serious private matters are you two discussing in here?" Maisie thought quickly for something to say that wouldn't sound suspicious. "I was asking Owen if he could show me a picture of the white Chucks on his phone so I can see if I'll like them tomorrow when we go shopping." Claire looked on, halfway not believing her oldest. "Hmmm, okay. Well you'll know when you try them on. It's your bedtime now. Lights out." She blew Maisie a kiss from the doorway and walked down the hall to turn the lights off in the living room. Owen leaned in and whispered to Maisie "I'm going to text Zia tomorrow and tell her what I have planned, okay? I'll see if she has any cute ideas in mind for poses or how I can pop the question in the middle of the photo shoot. Not a word to Claire, okay?" Maisie rolled her eyes. "Let me go get her and tell her right now." Owen glared at her. "Okay smarty pants, say something and see what happens." She stood on her knees on her bed and gave him a hug. "You better go now before she comes back in here. You know she'll sneak around the corner and listen to see if we're both up to no good or not." Owen raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. "My God, you're just as smart as she is, you know that? It freaks me out sometimes how much you two are alike. Let me go now before she suspects something more. Goodnight Mais." He kissed her on the forehead and turned her lamp off and closed her bedroom door behind him.

He made his way to his and Claire's bedroom to find her changing out of her clothes and into a tank top and pair of shorts to sleep in. "Hey sexy." He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her on her neck and then gently nibbled on her ear. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against him. He felt her hands reaching up to rest of top of his, but before she had a chance to hold his hands he turned her around and pulled her into him as close as he could get her. "You still think I'm sexy even after having a baby?" Aiden was almost five months old and Claire had managed to lose almost all of her baby weight in those few months following Aiden's birth. There wasn't much to lose to begin with. She had been all baby during her pregnancy. She hadn't put on any extra weight besides the baby and a little around her hips which Owen didn't want her to lose anyway. Owen looked her up and down before going in for a kiss. "Are you kidding me? You're sexier now than you ever have been!" After they shared a long passionate kiss, she asked him again. "Seriously Owen, I don't want us to get so busy being parents and working full time jobs that we fall into a routine and forget about each other." Owen wasn't worried like Claire was. "Babe," He was leaving kisses up and down her neck and collar bone. "In case you didn't hear me a minute ago, I still find you very attractive. You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because you're my girlfriend and the mother of my children. And trust me, I don't plan on letting us forget about 'play time' with each other." Their breathing was starting to get heavier. "Claire?" She hummed "hmm?" in response into his neck, kissing him back. "You got any sales going on tonight?" Claire was familiar with this joke. It was one of his dirty jokes he used on her when they first started seeing each other casually on the island years ago. Claire was the classiest person he knew but he also knew he could get her riled up with a good dirty innuendo every once in a while. Often using each other's last names in bed, Claire whispered into his ear and said, "Yes Mr. Grady, I have a sale going on right over there on that bed." He hummed into her ear. "Hmm, what kind of sale is it, Ms. Dearing?" She then delivered the punchline. "Clothes are 100% off all night long." He gave her that crooked, devilish grin she couldn't get enough of sometimes and she gave him the same look right back. He kept her closely attached to his body as he walked backwards towards their bed, letting her guide him since she could see where they were going. When they reached the foot of the bed she pushed him down on his back before standing above him and removing her tank top. She crawled on top of him, straddling his waist, and running kisses up and down his neck and chest. "My turn to be on top this time, sir." "You love fighting for control, don't you?" He could feel his body relaxing under her. "More than anything, Mr. Grady." He didn't care. In that moment he wanted her to control him. They paused their foreplay only long enough to lock their bedroom door in case a certain 10 year old happened to walk in on them. Claire turned on the baby monitor on the night stand beside the bed so she could hear if Aiden woke up fussing during the night. "Owen, I love you." Claire pulled Owen upright by his T-shirt and kissed him passionately on the lips before pulling his shirt over his head and exposing his abs. "I love you more, Claire." He wanted so badly in that moment to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him, but his plan to propose during their family photo shoot was the best idea he felt he had come up with to propose to her so he kept that topic of discussion at bay and simply made love to her until neither of them could move from sheer pleasure and exhaustion. They hadn't had many opportunities to have some one on one time lately, so when an opportunity arose and they weren't dead tired, they took it. Aiden only woke up twice that night, once at 2:00am and again at 4:50am. Claire took the reigns for round one and Owen took the reigns for round two. They spent the time in between feedings and calming their teething baby down wrapped in each other's bodies, intertwined from their shoulders down to their feet.