The next morning Claire woke up and realized she was still in her clothes from the day before. Suddenly she remembered the news she had been given less than 24 hours prior. She looked over and saw Owen still sleeping peacefully. Claire then realized she didn't remember coming to bed. He must have carried her to bed from the couch and covered her up. This man. This proud, stubborn but charming, caring man took care of her last night. After the way she treated him she didn't understand why he would make sure she was comfortable. No matter what, he always made sure she was okay. Claire didn't want him to leave. She just wanted him to know he didn't have to be stuck with her if he wanted a bigger family. If it took leaving her to find happiness then she understood. She propped herself up and kissed him lightly on the lips, careful not to wake him, and quietly scooted out of bed and walked down the hall to Maisie's room. Maisie was curled up in her bed sound asleep with a book lying on top of her chest. Claire walked over and removed the book and ran her hand over Maisie's hair. She kissed her on her forehead and let her sleep a little more before waking her up for school. She knew Maisie would not be in the most pleasant mood when she woke up due to what happened the night before, but in that moment she relished in the way Maisie could always make her smile. Claire went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. She looked at her phone to see if she had any texts or messages from Zia or anyone at work. She had to finish writing a few proposals to some politicians and tried to focus on that. A few minutes later she heard the coffee pot go off and made herself a cup and walked over to the mantle above her fireplace. It was lined with a couple of pictures, mostly selfies taken of her and Owen and Maisie. There was one Maisie had snapped of Claire and Owen. He closed his eyes and kissed her on the cheek at the last second before Maisie snapped the photo. It was Claire's favorite picture of the her and Owen together. There were a few of all three of them together and one with her and Maisie and one with Owen and Maisie. She sipped her coffee and tried to keep the tears from spilling out of her eyes but she failed. She had come face to face with the ultimate sacrifice, but in return she had the family she needed the most in that moment. Claire stood there and thought about how grateful she was to have the two of them in her life. Not being able to conceive a child of her own would be something she knew would be difficult to deal with for a long time but she decided to be thankful for the child she already had and deal with the rest the best way she could. She told herself there would be good days and bad days but that she had the two people she needed most to lean on.
