Shelter from the Storm - Chapter 2

Their bubble was about to pop. After a blissful month on the road – just them, the van, and whatever they saw fit to do or not do – they were joining the Mitchells for the tail end of their family vacation at a campground in Minnesota. Family. It had been something that Owen was actively avoiding. He didn't want their questions or judgment. Cleverly, he'd managed to sidestep his own in Colorado as he and Claire drove East. Not so easy was refusing the invitation from Karen and Scott. At least not without significantly offending them or contradicting his own support of the boys in the aftermath of the Jurassic World incident.

There was more to it than just the boys, however. Despite the awkwardness that continued distance and intermittent cell phone reception exacerbated, Claire was making an honest effort to reconnect with her sister. As an only child, Owen couldn't relate – and was thankful for that – but he still wanted to be supportive of Claire. Scott had also been reaching out to Owen, who had been largely a sounding board for issues with the boys. There were times when Owen had appreciated that Scott wanted to discuss other topics – one topic in particular that hit too close to home. When that happened, Owen was quick to end the call or, on one occasion, fake choppy reception.

It was easier for Owen to keep people at arm's length, but he still avoided deep conversations about his personal life with those he allowed to get closer. When the topic came up with Barry or Lowery, they usually dropped it after seeing Owen's body language shift. It had worked nicely that Barry had never been all that keen on marriage when they had worked together and that Lowery was single when they were hanging out in San Diego. Now that circumstances had changed, Owen found it challenging to talk to both of them. The topic would invariably come up, with Barry once inquiring about Owen's "intentions" toward Claire. Owen couldn't tell if his friend was joking, so he had just changed the subject.

Turning toward Claire in the passenger's seat, he saw that she looked nervous. She was trying to put on a brave face, rather than hiding in the back of the van with her e-reader or organizing the shelf (for the tenth time) in the sleeping area. These were things he'd caught her doing over the last few days. He'd gently chastised her for not keeping him awake as he drove, but he really just wanted her company and didn't want to address the elephant in the motorhome. As he passed a familiar brown sign with the tent symbol indicating the campground ahead, Owen figured it was time they said something.

"It's going to be fine, Claire," he said in a reassuring tone.

She signed heavily before responding, "I know. It's just… close quarters… no escape."

"What do you mean?" Keeping his tone light, "We still have our bed. You vetoed sleeping on the ground a long time ago. Much to my disappointment over never doing it in a pup tent." He winked at her, but she didn't even crack a smile. Putting a hand on her knee, he continued softly, "We're still towing the car. You can always get away if you need to." Claire finally gave him a half smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. In that moment, he realized that neither of them had used the car to get away from the other. Did she want to? Had she been afraid to ask? No. He shook off the worries. That wasn't what was bothering her. Couldn't be.

She bit her bottom lip before saying, "I feel like we're going to be intruding."

"Huh?" Owen was taken aback. "They invited us."

"I know, but Karen and Scott… they're trying to reconcile. Shouldn't we be leaving them be? On their family vacation?" Owen was surprised and, to be honest, annoyed by Claire's second-guessing. He wouldn't have agreed to this excursion – they'd bypassed a lot of enticing locales and scenic areas to make it happen – if she hadn't seemed so adamant in the first place.

He swallowed back his irritation and reminded her, "They could probably use a break from the tension. What they're attempting isn't easy." The words slipped past his nearly gritted teeth. He knew from experience. Forcing his jaw to relax, he added hopefully, "We're showing our support in more ways than one."

"You're right," Claire sighed while taking his hand in hers. "It's only four nights."

They settled back into silence as the van followed the winding road through the woods toward the predetermined meeting site. When they were closing in, Gray stood up from a tree stump and waved his arms excitedly. He pointed to a spot that was large enough for them to park. As soon as they stopped, the tween was banging on the door. Owen and Claire shared a laugh before she stood to let him in. The rest of the Mitchells were, more slowly, making their way over.

"Aunt Claire!" Gray practically jumped into her arms for a bear hug. His eyes flitted around the interior. "This is so cool." Pulling away from Claire, he catapulted himself at Owen and shouted, "It's so good to see you."

"You, too, buddy," Owen spoke for them both as Claire appeared a little shell shocked.

"Oh, wow," exclaimed Gray, examining a map of the US that Owen had hung near the table. "Are these all the states you've visited so far?" The boy's eyes shot to Owen's and missed Claire's sudden blush. There were, in fact, thirteen states marked with large red X's, dotting their path from San Diego.

"Yep," Owen confirmed with a wicked grin, "those are all the places I've been with Claire." Her expression rapidly transitioned from one of horror to a death glare in Owen's direction. He just gave her a sly smile in return and was saved by Karen's appearance at the door.

"Can we come in?" Karen asked politely then added playfully, "I swear we didn't raise Gray in a barn." The youngest Mitchell groaned but continued to explore the van. Owen was suddenly grateful for Claire's anxiety-provoked organizing. The two sisters shared a warm hug. When she pulled away, there was a mischievous glint in Karen's eye. "I have a surprise," she announced. Owen and Claire regarded her quizzically as Scott and Zach stepped into the motorhome. Coupled with Karen's dramatic pause, it felt like there wasn't enough oxygen to breathe anymore.

"Stop drawing this out, Karen," Scott interjected. "You're making me anxious." Scott shook his head and made brief eye contact with Owen before placing his hands gently on Karen's shoulders. It was a sweet but somewhat awkward gesture. Owen thought it looked as if Scott was holding back from a more obvious show of affection. Was it for his and Claire's benefit or a reflection of the state of the Mitchell marriage?

Before Owen could ponder further, Zach rolled his eyes and chimed in, "C'mon, Mom, just tell her."

Karen seemed zapped with an excited energy when she finally continued, "We're going to have a girls' weekend at a spa!" She opened her eyes wide and grinned expectantly for a reaction from Claire, who was momentarily stunned. Owen suppressed a laugh as he considered Claire's undoubtedly mixed emotions about this proposition. Her resultant "yay" was somewhat forced but not disingenuous.

Owen placed an encouraging arm around Claire's shoulders and teased her sister, "I thought you were the outdoorsy-type – more so than Claire. She's shown me your family ski photos."

Karen chuckled, "I prefer to be a cheerleader on the sidelines. I'm much more of a drink Irish coffee in front of a fire at the ski lodge-type." At Scott's clearing of his throat, Karen added seriously, "I enjoy camping, but I thought we could get in some quality time just the two of us." She wore a wistful smile that Claire responded to by squeezing her older sister's hand.

"Of course," Claire almost whispered, "that would be nice." Owen could tell she meant it.

The poignant moment was interrupted by Zach declaring, "Alright, the women need to leave the men now. Gray, you stayin' or going?"

"Hey!" protested Gray as he re-emerged from the back of the van. "I can tie better knots and pitch a tent faster than you." Before the brothers could get into it further, Scott ushered them wordlessly out of the van and Owen could finally breathe again. As Claire looked at him with slight alarm, he wondered who was getting the better end of this "deal." Despite their close quarters for the last few months, he didn't relish the idea of being apart, especially when he'd have no escape from her family. By the looks of the Mitchell campsite, Karen wasn't expecting to drive the family car. Owen mused that the SUV they'd been towing all this time would finally prove useful.

x x x

Pulling into the parking spot, Claire turned off the car. Karen had spent the entire drive to the resort talking non-stop, and Claire had ended up tuning her out, giving occasional uh-huh's and hm's as the pauses seemed to warrant. It seemed to have been enough, as Karen hadn't stopped or questioned her. But now, as she pulled the keys out, Claire was having a realization of her own – this was the first time she'd driven in what must have been weeks. On their previous road trip, when it had just been her, Owen and the car, he'd driven most of the way, but they'd shared the responsibility. Since they'd left with the van, however… Claire wasn't sure if she'd ever actually even just sat behind the wheel.

Before she could start to overthink it, Karen was clamouring out of the car, pulling their suitcases out of the back, and exclaiming excitedly about how she was dying for some girl talk. Claire followed after her, a bit more sedately, but a smile of her own was growing. With the age gap, and Karen having Zach while Claire was still finishing up high school, the two had never had a weekend like this before. In fact, they'd actually never had a vacation that was only the two of them. They had kept in touch over the years – although that had started to lag as Claire's responsibilities increased and her free time shrank – usually bonding over TV shows they both enjoyed. However, Claire had never had a "girls' weekend." Not only never with her sister, but also just never. She'd been too heads down at school, trying to pack as many courses in as she could, so she could get back to Jurassic World faster. And, well, she lived at a resort on Nublar. The idea of going away to one seemed a little redundant.

After checking in, the two headed upstairs to their room, Claire flipping through the package they'd been given about the resort. She was getting more and more excited about the whole idea. Access to a real bed (although the one in van really wasn't half bad), and a real shower? A shower with actual water pressure? And unlimited (or at least more than 5 minutes worth) of hot water? She may just never want to leave.

Claire tapped the keycard against the door, pushing into the room when the light blinked green.

"Wait," Karen's voice startled her, and Claire looked down to see Karen had snagged her right arm, just above the wrist. Karen lifted Claire's arm, inspecting the turquoise cuff bracelet she was wearing. A puzzled look settled across Karen's face, before she looked up at Claire. "That's not your usual style. I mean, it's beautiful, but… usually you wear pretty minimalist rose gold stuff."

"Owen bought it for me," Claire shrugged, pulling her hand back and moving more fully into the room. "We stopped at this place in Santa Fe. The design is called a hummingbird."

"Huh," Karen just said, skirting past her and falling back onto one of the beds. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Gray is getting into all of this camping stuff and that Zach's happy enough to go along with it. But, I've missed my bed like you wouldn't believe."

"What do you mean, 'huh'?" Claire asked, ignoring Karen's comment, although she copied her move, reveling in the feel of the soft down comforter and pile of pillows.

"It's just… not really like you," Karen said after a moment. "Not just the style, but, well, wearing something you haven't picked out yourself."

"He seemed really excited about it," Claire said. "To be honest, I've mostly forgotten I'm wearing it. It's not like I'm getting all dressed up for anything anymore." The moment the words were out, the mood in the room fell, like a storm cloud had come rushing in on her words, on the reminder of Jurassic World and everything that had happened only eight months prior. "But, enough about the past… what do you want to do? We've got tonight and all day tomorrow. We can probably squeeze something in Sunday morning, too."

Karen laughed, sitting up on the bed. "You never change, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Always creating itineraries, everywhere you go."

"I–"

"Hey, I'm not dismissing it, we've got limited time and we should pack in as much as we can. I really need some testosterone-free time."

It was Claire's turn to look concerned. "Everything okay, Kar? I thought things were getting better."

"They are… mostly." Karen stood up, walking towards the window and looking out at their view (or, really, lack of a view, as they just stared down over the parking lot). She spun back around. "We're not even sharing a tent."

"You're not?" Claire was surprised. "Why?"

"I don't know," Karen groaned. "He's still sleeping in the guest room, Claire. I thought things were getting better. But… why hasn't he come back to our room? I know Zach thinks everything is just for show. He's made comments, like he's expecting Scott to move out any day now. Gray doesn't seem to have noticed, thankfully. He's just too happy to be spending all this time with Scott."

Claire sat up slowly, watching her sister carefully. She wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't have a lot of personal experience to rely on. Owen was the first person she'd ever lived with.

"Do you want him to move back in?" Claire asked cautiously.

Karen nodded emphatically.

"Have you told him?"

"Are you kidding?" Karen's eyes widened. "I can't ask that. He has to want to."

"And I thought I was bad at communicating," Claire laughed, standing up and moving towards Karen. "Karen, he's not a mind reader. He probably doesn't want to cross a line you're not ready for. You said the idea to get a divorce was pretty mutual, right?"

Karen nodded.

"Well, then you probably need to move forward together, not waiting for one or the other to take a big step."

"When did you become so wise?" Karen asked, wrapping her arms around Claire, pulling her into a tight hug, sniffling against her shoulder.

"Life's short," Claire shrugged, and Karen pulled back just far enough to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Hey, you spend a day being chased by a homicidal hybrid dinosaur and see if your thoughts on life don't change."

Karen laughed, the sound watery, and Claire joined in. Soon, the two were laughing hard, holding onto each other to stay upright.

"That's not even funny," Karen gasped out.

"It's a little funny," Claire replied.

x x x

It had been remarkably easy to be separated from Claire for the first several hours. Owen hadn't realized how much he missed the company of men – which pretty much described his entire staff at the raptor paddock – or his peaceful plot of land on Nublar until their serene afternoon of fishing on Leech Lake. After cleaning and roasting their catch for dinner, the inquisition began, and Owen wished Claire hadn't left him alone with her family.

"Were you a Boy Scout?" Gray asked with enthusiasm in his voice.

Owen shifted uncomfortably in front of the campfire before answering, "Only briefly, kid. I tried, but it… didn't take." Three sets of eyes looked at him with relative surprise. He caught Zach smirking when Gray's face fell. "I didn't like all the rules and uniforms w–"

Before he could finish, Gray cut him off, "But you were in the Navy. Isn't that the same?" Owen made eye contact with Scott, whose look seemed to say "good luck with that." Gray continued to look at Owen with confusion.

"I wasn't good with authority when I was younger," Owen gave as an explanation. He suddenly felt nine years old again and having to defend his decision to his overbearing father. Then, Zach's outburst of laughter drew everyone's attention.

"I don't think you ever grew out of that," the teen interjected. "We saw you punch that guy, Hoskins. Wasn't he your boss?" Scott was chuckling under his breath now.

"The Navy didn't stick for too long either," Owen said with a wink. As Gray was still looking a bit disappointed, he added, "I did stay in the Scouts long enough to go to Philmont." Invoking the name of the famous Scout Ranch caused Gray to perk up. "Your dad said he wants to take you next summer. It's a really beautiful place."

"Did you know there's a T. rex track there?" Gray's excitement had returned. The comment, however, caused Owen to deflate. He didn't understand why Gray would be excited about a fossilized version of something the boy had actually experienced, live and in color with accompanying roars. There was satisfaction in seeing that Gray didn't appear traumatized at the mention of the dinosaur and Owen took some pride in that. But, he also felt like he'd processed the experience himself in his previous conversations with the Mitchell clan and didn't want to rehash it again.

Thankfully, Scott recognized Owen's reticence and changed the subject to baseball. The boys proceeded to regale Owen with tales of the games they'd attended this summer with their dad and grandpa. Zach's loyalty to the Cubs seemed to Owen an act of defiance against his father's favorite team, the Brewers. While Owen laughed at the playful jabs between father and eldest son, there was an edge to Zach's taunts that cut a little deeper, as evidenced by the occasional tic of Scott's facial muscles. Scott eventually reached his limit and directed the boys to clean up.

"I call the tent with Owen tonight!" Gray announced as he collected their utensils. Owen, who'd anticipated spending the night in the van, was stunned into silence and looked questioningly toward Scott.

"They want to alternate sharing a tent with you the next two nights," Scott told him quietly. "Is that okay?"

"Sure," Owen reluctantly agreed. Trying not to make his displeasure obvious, he stood to assist the boys with the dishes.

After Owen moved some of his essentials from the van into a tent, the four of them sat around the campfire toasting s'mores. It only took two for Gray to start yawning. Owen thought that the kid was minutes away from head-bobbing.

"Gray," Owen tapped his shoulder, "why don't you go to the bathroom and then get into your sleeping bag? I'll be over in a short while." As Gray nodded sleepily, Scott mouthed the words, "Thank you."

Once his brother had retired for the night, Zach almost whined, "Can I call Chelsea now?"

"Please do," Scott muttered sarcastically. "It's been five days since she's heard from you, she probably thinks you were eaten by a bear." The teen did not hide his eye roll as he clambered up to retrieve his cell phone and jog in the direction of the road. Watching him go, Scott added, "I was hoping they'd break up after the park incident. Chelsea's always been so clingy, and she's even worse now."

"It can be nice to have someone in your life who makes you feel wanted," blurted Owen, almost not thinking. Off Scott's somewhat offended look, he stumbled with his words to recover, "I mean, someone who's not your family… it's their 'obligation' to want you."

Scott let out a sigh, "I know what you mean. He's just spending a lot more time with her than us."

"They're probably having a lot of sex," Owen smirked. Thoughts of his own state-spanning escapades with Claire swirled in his mind. He and Zach might have more in common than he initially thought. A dopey grin spread across Owen's face that did not go unnoticed.

Scott cleared his throat and replied nervously, "Not sure I really want to think about that for Zach or Claire." He added matter-of-fact, "Claire's like a younger sister to me." Owen felt sheepish and almost looked away, but Scott wore a warm smile. "I'm glad she has someone who's not family. Karen can be… suffocating."

"I thought you were…" Owen's voice trailed off. He didn't want his own personal biases to affect his words or tone.

"We are trying." It was Scott whose gaze drifted out to the lake. "The incident made us reevaluate and focus more on the good things. Some days, I worry that we might only be staying together for the boys. It's harder to recapture what's been lost when one of them isn't… cooperative." Making eye contact again, Scott added hopefully, "Maybe you could get through to Zach." Owen was relieved at this turn in the conversation.

"Yeah," Owen agreed quickly, "I'll talk to him tomorrow, man-to-man." His tone lightened at the last few words, and Scott seemed to relax considerably.

"You want a beer?" Scott offered.

"Absolutely! That would definitely help make the sleeping bag more tolerable."

x x x

Once Claire and Karen had got themselves together the previous evening, they had gone through the brochures for the spa and had booked themselves for an entire day's worth of treatments. They had decided to start with a morning of mani-pedis. After lunch, they were going to enjoy the heated mineral bath, before finishing off with facials and massages. A definite splurge, but one they had decided was more than worth it.

They were sitting down for lunch in the spa restaurant when a bunch of giggling caught their attention. Looking over to the side Claire saw a group of women, probably early twenties, gathered around a long table. At one end, one woman wore a tiara and a sash proclaiming her the "Bride-To-Be." They were obviously farther into their lunch and had been clearly enjoying the champagne, based on the few bottles scattered across the table.

"I don't get that," Claire remarked, looking at Karen. "I mean, obviously I think a spa day is worth it. I'm here. But… the wearing of the sash? The tiara? It's so over the top and, well, childish."

"Somewhere you must have a romantic bone in your body," Karen laughed. "They're having fun. What's wrong with that? If you're going to get married you probably should be excited about the occasion."

"There's a difference between excitement and, well, that," Claire grumbled. "You wouldn't have believed how many weddings and bachelorette, well, usually stags, that would happen at Jurassic World. They always seemed so much more interested in the event than the actual marriage."

"Since when did you become so cynical about marriage?" Karen asked.

"I'm not," Claire protested, and then added off Karen's disbelieving look. "Okay, maybe I am a little. But, well, it's not like my experience with them has shown that they're really all they're cracked up to be. I mean, mom and dad are divorced. You almost ended up divorced. O–" Claire cut herself off, wondering if that was information she was supposed to share or not.

"Just because Owen's divorced doesn't mean that there's something wrong with marriage," Karen said. Claire looked at her in surprise. "Yeah, I already knew he was divorced. He told Scott."

"Really?" Claire wasn't sure how to interpret that information. She picked up her water glass, taking a sip to buy some time.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Now it was Karen's turn to look surprised. Claire shook her head and Karen let out a sigh. "They talk a fair amount."

"Owen didn't seem to really want to tell me that," Claire admitted. "I guess I'm surprised he's talked so willingly to Scott."

"Well, from the little Scott's told me, I don't think 'willingly' is the right word. I got the impression that Owen tries to change the subject when it comes up. Seems to be a bit of a sore spot."

"He said it was the biggest trauma he'd had before Jurassic World," Claire said softly. "He hasn't told me much, and I haven't wanted to pry." She looked off to the side, staring at the large aquarium that separated the dining area from the rest of the spa, watching the fish swimming for a few moments. "I didn't know he was talking with Scott so much. I thought he was just talking with the boys."

"He talks with them, too," Karen nodded. "And I've had the occasional chat with him." Claire turned back to Karen at that. "You really didn't know any of this?"

Claire shook her head. "Why hasn't he told me?"

"Not everyone constantly volunteers what they're doing. I doubt he's trying to keep it from you," Karen said. "I am surprised you didn't know, considering the close quarters you guys keep. But… why haven't you ever asked him? He'd probably tell you."

Claire just shrugged. "I don't know. I mean… we talk a lot. But, he doesn't seem to like talking about anything to do with Jurassic World. I guess… we just don't seem to ever touch on that subject or anything around it." It was true. She definitely felt like they did a lot of talking, especially considering they were generally the only company for each other. But, she'd caught on early to his reluctance to keep up on anything Jurassic World related after they'd headed out the first time, and it had been confirmed when they'd had dinner with Lowery and Andrea back in San Diego. She didn't feel the same ability to disconnect from it all and continued to follow the news herself.

"Be careful Claire," Karen said, drawing Claire's attention back to her.

"Careful? Of what?"

"I can see you second-guessing everything right now," Karen said. "Don't. He's a good guy. Men aren't that complicated. He's probably just trying to follow your lead and stick to your boundaries. Maybe consider letting some of your walls down."

We meant for to cover their whole vacation in a single chapter, however (surprise), we're wordy and we didn't want to keep you guys waiting longer than necessary. It also means you get more Zach, Gray, Karen and Scott in the next chapter! :) Out of all the "guest stars" in MY so far, who's your favourite? And who do you want to see more of?