A/N Headcannon for Keira - Maggie Elizabeth Jones (that really cute kid from We Bought A Zoo).

I'm trying to work on Keira being like a realistic child. I find that a lot of fanfics have these cookie-cutter children that are adorable and cute and well-behaved at all times, and I don't know about you but me and my siblings were definitely none of those things.

CHAPTER 3

Brian's radio crackled with static as he swung off the road and towards the Raptor enclosure. He checked that his gun and 'Buster' (the electrocuting rod all security guards were provided with) were securely attached to his belt before getting out of the jeep, slamming the car door behind him.

He headed for the Keeper's office and knocked, surprised to see Owen actually hunched over a series of files, busily working when he went in.

"Oh," Owen said, raising both eyebrows as he looked up at Brian, "hey, man. You here to work?"

"Yeah - I'm doing a six-hour stint on the Rapture enclosure - thought I'd say hi." Owen nodded, settling down his pen and looking up at Brian expectantly, who was still hovering by the door.

"Listen, I know it's none of my business but did you and Allie...fight or something yesterday? I just -" Brian tailed off, scrubbing at the stubble along his jawline with a hand. It felt weird to have this conversation with a thirty-six year old, 6'2, adult male when he felt like he was talking to a teenager. Which, Brian figured, was exactly how they were both acting.

Owen pretended to busy himself with tidying the papers on his desk. "She pissed?"

"She was. Don't take it too personally...she's having a hard time at work."

Owen's body tensed suddenly and obviously. "Someone's giving Allie a hard time at work?"

Brian smiled slightly. "No, some project that she's working on 's just got her all stressed out, is all. Classified. I'm not allowed to know what it's about."

"New dinosaur?"

"I don't know." Brian was halfway out the door before he remembered something else, pressing one hand against the doorframe as he leant back into the office. "Also - are you still okay for helping out with Keira's school project?"

Owen squinted one eye up at him, confused. "What?"

Brian frowned. "The school project Keira's doing for school..." he said, slowly, "about Velociraptors? Allie said she phoned you about it last night."

Comprehension dawned on Owen's face and he chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "Allie never phoned me about that."

Brian sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "Right. Sorry...I'll talk to her about it tonight."

But Owen was clearly too angry to hear him. "Awesome," he muttered sarcastically to himself, standing abruptly and slipping past Brian out the door. "Really great."

Brian watched Owen stalk off towards the Raptor enclosure, the other man's shoulder's hunched and tensed unhappily. "Dammit, Allie," he swore to himself.

The Dwyer's house was one of many in the overly-idyllic employee village that could have passed for any other American suburban road. It had large shrubs and a white picket fence with a small, slightly parched square patch of lawn by a driveway. Allie's high-status job meant that their house was impressively larger than the rest - perhaps, if they admitted to themselves, larger than a family of three really needed. Certainly larger than the home they'd had in Boston before moving to Islar Nubar the year before.

Allie and Keira were muddling their way through making cookies from a recipe Allie had found on her iPad when Brian came in through the door, momentarily letting in the muggy heat and the night.

"Hey!" smiled Allie, looking up at Brian as he walked in through the door.

"Dad!" Keira yelled excitedly, wobbling precariously on the stool she was standing on to reach the kitchen counter. "We're making cookies!"

"Oh yeah? Lemme' guess. Knowing you...and knowing your Mom, you guys must be making, like, quadruple chocolate chip cookies, am I right?"

"Triple," Allie corrected, smirking. The smirk fell off her face when Brian came up behind her and wrapped his arms round her stomach. "We need to talk," her murmured in her ear.

She twisted her head, looking at him questioningly, but he ignored her, instead looking at Keira. "You looking forward to your school project on the dinosaurs?" he asked her, pointedly, and as Keira replied enthusiastically, Allie's heart instantly sunk.

She turned round in his arms, leaving Keira to messily dollop out cookie mixture onto baking trays. "Where were you working today?" she asked, testing the waters gently.

"With the Raptors."

She nodded slowly. "Hey-hey-hey!" she then exclaiming, disengaging herself from Brian's arms as she rushed to take the spoon off Keira. "Y'know, if you keep waving the spoon round like that, you're going to get cookie mixture all over the kitchen."

"But it won't come off the spoon!" Keira complained.

"Yeah, so you use two spoons, like this," Allie demonstrated, using one spoon to scrape the mixture off the other onto the tray in a neat circle.

Once they were done, Allie slid both trays into the oven. Keira reached her arms up. "Can I have the iPad?"

"Okay. Go and sit in the living room for fifteen minutes and then the cookies should be about done."

She watched Keira run off to play whatever new game she'd become addicted to on the iPad and then turned and faced Brian, her stomach knotting.

"You know what I'm going to say," he said, tiredly.

Allie breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry I lied to you -"

"-an apology isn't going to cut it...What the hell Allie! You said you'd talk to Owen! Keira's really excited about this project -"

"I'm sorry - I've had a lot on at work."

Brian shook his head disbelievingly. "You promised when you took this job you'd never let it get in the way of family."

"I'm not. I was tired and I just forgot."

"Your lying to me again!" Brian hissed-shouted so that Keira wouldn't hear, slamming his hand on the kitchen counter. "This is blatantly about Owen!" He started to pace the kitchen angrily. "This has got to stop, he's Keira's Uncle and he has a right to see her. You two need to get over yourselves and apologise."

"That man has never been nice to me, Brian! Ever since we got here he's just been a complete jack-ass about me and about my job."

"He just doesn't agree with what you do."

"I don't care! Love is supposed to be unconditional. I don't like that you have to wear a gun for your job, but I don't attack you about it every chance I get."

Brian rounded on her, spreading his hands. "He care's about you Allie. He does. You guys have just been fighting for so long that neither of you can swallow your pride and start trying to get along. Can you even remember what started this all?"

"Sure I can," Allie fired back. "I...he..."

Brian watched her struggle, folding his arms and Allie's face tightened. "Don't look at me like that. I can't remember because we haven't gotten along even since we were kids."

"-when your parents divorced? That wasn't his fault!"

Allie's eyes filled with tears. "But we were so close and after the divorce he suddenly stopped talking to me! And every time we had family events he just pretended like he didn't even know me - then I see him when he's eighteen and I find out he's joined the navy. And he's away doing God knows what for my wedding and Keira's birth." Allie hiccupped, scrubbing at the tears on her cheeks angrily. "He's missed so much. We're twins, we're supposed to be inseparable."

Brian sighed, walking towards her and rubbing her arms gently. "By the sounds of it," he said, softly, as she struggled to stop crying, "you've both been too damn proud and allowed this to carry on for too long. You need to let him in, and he needs to start trying. You're both thirty-six, not seventeen."

"This isn't my fault."

"It's both your faults, Allie," Brian said, firmly. "You not phoning him yesterday proves it. You need to let him back in instead of pushing him away."

"Then he needs to stop being a dick about everything I do."

"Tell him that, not me. You guys need to meet and talk things through - like grown ups." Brain cupped her face and pulled her chin up so she looked him in the eyes. "You didn't see his face today, Allie. He was really hurt. He wanted to see Keira. And when I mentioned you were stressed about work, he was honestly worried about you."

Allie's chin wobbled. "He was?" Brian nodded and she suddenly burst into tears. "Why are we both so stupid!"

Brian sighed rolling his eyes and stroked her hair. "Because you're Grady's."

"Rude," Allie sniffed into his chest.

"It's true," he teased, "sometimes I worry Keira has too much Grady than Dwyer in her. Explains the ADHD."

"Hey," said Allie, leaning back to glare up at him, "we all know the Dwyer's have that crazy gene that turn you lot into introverted, silent weirdos who live in the forest and skin rabbits for a food. You're forgetting I've met your Crazy Uncle Pete."

They stood in their embrace for a while until Allie's face was dry and her tears were gone. "I'd go insane without you," she admitted to him quietly once several minutes had gone by.

"And I'd be a silent, introvert weirdo with out," he murmured kissing her.

"We make a good team."

"Yeah."

"And maybe we should try and make another Dwyer baby tonight?" Allie suggested, pushing herself up onto her toes and kissing him so deeply she left little doubt as to what she was inferring.

Brian looked at her. "You want another kid?"

Allie bit her lip, smiling. "Uhu."

A slow grin broke Brian's face and he looped his arms more tightly around her. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"You sure you can handle another Keira?" he breathed, moving in closer. He watched as her eyes dilated and her breathing became shallow.

"Yeah. Piece of cake."

"Yeah?" he paused, his lips inches away from her mouth.

Allie shot him a quit-teasing-me kind of look before pressing her lips to his mouth. It still amazed her that Brian had the ability to make her head spin like this after eight years. She threaded her hands through his hair, tugging lightly in a way she knew he liked and Brian grunted slightly into her mouth, running his hands down her back to cup her ass -

"Dad?"

They sprang apart as Keira stood by the table looking at them guiltily.

"Er- yeah sweetheart?"

"I dropped the iPad down the toilet."

Allie's eyes widened and her arms slipped down from Brian's neck limply. "Keira I told you you couldn't take the iPad in the bathroom with you."

Brian didn't look surprised - just exasperated. Electronical items tended to have a short lifespan when Keira was around. "Well - did you get it out?"

"No, it's still in there."

Allie heaved a sigh and looked at Brian. "I'll get the iPad if you make dinner," she bargained.

He nodded. "Sounds a plan."

A/N Please remember to leave a review :)