Okay, this one takes place Spring 2022, after #33 (Professor Grady).
All About the Glasses
Pulling into a parking spot, Claire turned off the car, before letting out a small groan of frustration as she briefly rested her head against the steering wheel. It wasn't even 11am, but she was already ready to be completely done with the day.
After taking a deep breath, and then a second one, Claire finally sat up again, a little surprised that Murphy hadn't stuck his head into the front, or barked, or done anything to get her attention once they'd stopped. A big change from his attitude for the past hour and a half, once he'd realized that Claire was taking him to the vet.
Now that had not been fun. From the moment she'd started getting near the vet clinic and Murphy had made the connection, he'd started whining, and howling, and just throwing a huge fuss in the back seat. Claire had never taken him before, since she'd told Owen early on that Murphy was his responsibility. But the appointment this morning had ended up overlapping with a meeting and training session that Owen hadn't been able to get out of, and Claire had capitulated and agreed to take him.
Earlier, when she had pulled to a stop at the vet, Murphy had scrambled to the opposite side of the car when she'd opened his door, refusing to come out. She'd had to pretty much climb into the car and drag him out. At which point, he'd flopped onto the ground, refusing to walk. She'd had to then pick him up — and wow, was he ever heavy when he wanted to be a dead weight — and carry him inside.
By the time they'd finished there, he'd refused to so much as look at her. Ignoring her offering of a treat when they got back to the car, instead curling up onto the back seat, pointedly looking away from her. And it wasn't even a bad appointment. It was just a standard check up. No shots. Nothing crazy.
But, apparently he was still holding a grudge and was going to keep giving her the silent treatment. At least, that was better than the constant howling.
Boy, did Owen ever owe her for taking this on!
Opening her car door, Claire got out before moving to the back door and opening it for Murphy. He was on the other side of the car once more, but she really wasn't in the mood to deal with his moodiness again. And there was no way she was going to carry him all the way to Owen.
"C'mon, Murphy," Claire told the dog, but Murphy didn't move. She sighed. "Murphy, I'm not doing this again. You need to get out now." Again, the dog just sat there. Grumbling, Claire looked around the parking lot, hoping for inspiration or something. "Don't you want to go see your dad?" she tried offering, and for the first time, Murphy moved, turning his head to look at her, his ears perking up. "You need to come out if you want to see him."
She watched as Murphy finally sat up, looking out the window for the first time and finally actually realizing where they were, his tail suddenly wagging furiously. On one hand, she was glad that he was moving. On the other, she didn't think it was at all fair that he was taking his dislike of the vet out on her.
Of course, she realized she'd made one other mistake, when Murphy suddenly spun around on the seat and bolted towards her, nearly knocking her off her feet, as he catapulted out of the car, racing across the parking lot as she frantically yelled after him to "Stop! Wait!"
He did, but only because a car came around a corner, and he was suddenly cut off. Claire quickly caught up to him, snapping his leash onto his collar, and looking apologetically towards the driver of the car who was glaring furiously at her.
"Sorry," she mouthed, before tugging on the leash and pulling Murphy away. "Let's go, Murph."
Once they were clear of the parking lot and crossing the field, Claire looked down at Murphy who was pulling against the leash, trying to get her to hurry up. "You are in big trouble," she told him. "Slow down."
Murphy didn't though, continuing to pull as he led her towards the field that Owen and his group used for most of their training sessions.
"You know I was at the vet with you," Claire reminded the dog. "They didn't do anything wrong. You're blowing this out of proportion."
Murphy glanced back at her briefly, before continuing forward. Claire let out her breath in a huff, realizing she was trying to reason with a dog, and wondering when she'd become that person.
When they finally rounded the final building, the training field in sight, Claire could feel the tension in her shoulders ease slightly. Soon she'd be able to hand off Murphy to Owen and get back to her day. Looking out over the field, the trainers and the dogs were spread apart, each working their way through some sort of drill as Owen walked between them, providing help and offering ways for improvement.
As she came to a stop at the edge of the field by the bleachers, Claire could feel her smile grow as she watched Owen. She didn't get to see him at work all that much, but whenever she did, the one thing that had always struck her, was how comfortable and relaxed he looked. How even if he sometimes felt like he might not fit in because he didn't have the same academic history as many of the other professors — having not taken the undergrad - grad school - post doc - professor path — that he still belonged.
She knew it wasn't just his career path that sometimes made him feel like an outsider (although he had, more than once, told her that so many of the others just didn't get what it was really like to work in the "real" world). But that he would often feel old as the students he primarily worked with as trainers for the dogs were usually still in their undergrad, although a couple were doing grad school. Still, she felt that he belonged more so than many of the others, if she was being honest.
Murphy, however, was not keen to just see his dad from the sidelines. He started barking immediately and pulling at his leash as he tried to get to Owen. Once again, his tail was wagging a mile a minute.
"Calm down, Murph," Claire told him, as she crouched down beside him. "I can't unhook you when you're jumping about."
Murphy sat, although he was still wiggling, unable to contain his enthusiasm, but Claire finally managed to unclasp the leash. The moment Murphy knew he was free, he was sprinting across the field towards Owen. Claire watched as the dog circled Owen a few times, and then as Owen crouched down to greet him. When Owen finally stood up again, he briefly glanced over towards Claire, raising his hand in greeting.
Claire didn't recognize the trainer Owen was working with. Although the trainer looked a bit putout to have been interrupted by Murphy. The woman, probably an undergrad was Claire's guess since she looked quite young, stepped forward to say something to Owen. Claire was surprised when the trainer reached out to pet Murphy, who was still practically dancing around Owen in excitement, only to see Murphy pointedly move away, moving behind Owen.
Claire's brows knitted together in confusion. Huh, normally Murphy loved all attention. Before she could dwell on it at all, Owen pointed over towards her, and said something, to which the trainer nodded before starting across the field towards Claire.
Claire was confused as to why the trainer would be approaching her, sure that if Owen had questions for her, he'd come over himself. However, the student ended up bypassing her completely without even sparing her a glance, instead going to the bleachers. And then, to Clarie's surprise, the woman picked up Owen's bag. Her brow furrowing, Claire watched as the other woman opened the bag, rifling through it, before pulling out Murphy's training vest.
Looking up, the woman seemed to finally notice that Claire was watching her. "Murphy's not allowed on the field without his vest," she said, her tone snide, before turning and walking back towards Owen.
Claire didn't even bother to suppress her eye roll at the woman's comment. After all, Owen was the boss, and Murphy was his dog. And even though she'd had a frustrating morning with Murphy, she knew he was still very much a good dog. Focusing back on the field again, Claire couldn't help but smile as she watched Murphy who was circling Owen, unable to sit still and clearly happy to be back with his dad.
When the trainer reached them, she handed the vest to Owen who quickly slipped it on over Murphy's head, buckling the clasp. The moment the vest was secured, it was like Murphy transformed into a different dog, immediately settling at Owen's side.
Claire rarely saw Murphy wearing his vest, since when he was home he was generally just in "dog mode" as Owen liked to call it. Sometimes, Owen would put Murphy in the vest if he wanted to practice some drills or test something out. But Murphy's job wasn't to be a support dog, and so Owen liked to give him as much down time as possible. While Murphy was a smart dog — too smart, Claire often thought — he could also have a short attention span. So Owen liked to keep the vest for when he really needed Murphy to focus, and to let him be free the rest of the time.
She knew that she could probably leave, now that her job of delivering Murphy to Owen was done. After all, the vet trip had taken up most of her morning and she still had a full day's worth of work ahead of her. But, standing there, Claire found herself unable to pull away, as she watched Owen and Murphy at work.
She was also hoping to get a moment to talk to Owen before she left, since she knew he'd want to know how the vet visit had gone, but she didn't want to interrupt their training. She knew that Owen would come over when he was free.
As she waited, Claire found her gaze drifting across the field. She watched as Owen moved between the various trainers, Murphy keeping a perfect heel beside him. Sometimes, she'd focus on a trainer for a while. She recognized some of them from having also worked with the previous batch, the one Murphy had been part of. But some of them were new, like the woman who had retrieved Murphy's vest.
Claire found her attention was continually drawn back to that trainer, and it took her a while to figure out why. At first she thought it was the dog (a border collie) that the trainer was working with that held Claire's interest. But, no, that wasn't it. And when it finally did strike her, she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Or the snicker that escaped. She almost, almost, felt sort of bad for the woman, and sort of understood her earlier snide tone.
Of course, now that she'd noticed, Claire couldn't help but look around to see if any of the other trainers were acting the same way. And she thought maybe for a couple, but none of them were nearly as blatant. Best of all, Claire could tell that Owen had absolutely no clue what was going on, too focused on his work.
It took a while, but Owen eventually paused the training, letting everyone take a break. About half the dogs flopped onto the ground, while a couple of trainers picked up balls to throw for those who wanted to play, Murphy included.
Almost immediately the trainer who'd retrieved Murphy's vest tried to sideline Owen, but Claire watched as Owen brushed her off, as he headed off the field towards her.
"I see you've picked up a few new admirers," she commented when Owen was within hearing range.
Owen blinked. "I've what?" he asked, glancing behind himself towards the field.
"That trainer, the one who got Murphy's vest," she explained. "Looks like someone's got a bit of a crush on you."
"She what?" Owen practically sputtered, as he spun around to look towards the field again. When he turned back, his eyes were wide. "What do you mean? No, she's not. Besides, Claire, these are kids. They're like… maybe 20. I'm way too old for them."
"And also married," she reminded him, enjoying the moment more than she should have, perhaps.
"That too," he agreed, closing the last couple of steps between them to give her a quick kiss.
Normally, Claire liked to keep any PDA down to a minimum, but she couldn't help herself today, reaching for Owen to give him a longer kiss before he could pull away. It wasn't indecent, not even close, but he still looked a bit dazed when she let him go.
"What was that about?"
"Just claiming what's mine," she murmured, as her gaze darted over his shoulder, checking to confirm that, yep, the trainer had been watching.
"Claim away," Owen grinned at her, before he took another glance behind him and at the field. "But, I still think you're wrong. I'm their prof."
"And?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're also wearing your glasses today," she pointed out. "So you're not just a prof."
She couldn't help but burst out laughing as his face went red. She was still surprised, to this day, that she could get him so flustered when she'd tease him about this. Normally, he was all cool and calm and so even-keeled. The first time she'd teased him about something like this, was probably the first time she'd ever seen him look embarrassed.
Of course, she probably shouldn't be so quick to judge, considering her own history of not liking PDA. After the original Jurassic World incident, when it had felt like the eyes of the world were focused on her, Claire had been so self-conscious of even the smallest things she did. Of how everything could be interpreted and, more importantly, misinterpreted. She'd avoided, as much as possible, being ever seen in public with Owen. It was probably part of what had screwed up their relationship that time, really. She could never fully relax, always on edge about how things looked to everyone else. About what people were going to be saying about her now. Even once they'd managed to get away, to take off in his van, that feeling of edginess had never really gone away.
Then, after the incident at the Lockwood Estate, and the crazy whirlwind of events that had followed, it was as though she had been tossed right back into the early post-Nublar days. All eyes had been turned on her again, what with the DPG being thrust into the spotlight and the dinosaurs now loose and roaming free. Back under the scrutinizing attention of the media again, Claire had wanted, above all, to protect the fragile rebuilding and rebranding of her image she'd so carefully pieced back together over the past year. Once again, she'd been more focused on others' perception, and how things could be spun, and less on her own actual comfort.
She hadn't even noticed that she was doing it at first, not until one day at the DPG offices, when Owen had stopped by with Maisie. After they'd left, she'd overheard a volunteer making a comment about how "cold" Claire was, because she'd moved away when Owen had tried to kiss her hello. Someone else had responded with "I guess the honeymoon is already over."
That evening, she'd wanted to bring it up with Owen. To ask him if he felt that she was cold. If it was a problem for him that she didn't like when he was affectionate in public. But she had found that she couldn't. She didn't want to know the answer. And she didn't want to tell him that she wanted less of it. That she didn't like eyes on her when it was about private stuff, that she didn't like feeling like an object on display. But, most of all, she didn't want him to perceive her as cold.
Then, the next time he'd visited the office, she'd tried to steady herself, to be ready to accept what he offered, and then he hadn't even done anything. No kiss, no hand on her back, or arm around her waist. She had been even more confused after that, but also even less motivated to bring it up. After all, it was what she had wanted, right?
But the events a year ago had changed her perception, and her willingness to accept and even offer affection in public. It had been so jarring at the time when she'd realized just how long they'd gone without it, and not just in public, but overall. It had taken a while to readjust after all of that, as every action had felt almost like it was being done for show, to prove a point. A "we're fine, because look, I kissed you today" versus "I just want to kiss you because I love you."
It had taken her a while to realize that Owen's greeting of hello with a kiss or his holding her hand when they were out, that him wanting to touch her, to be beside her, was not about him trying to prove anything. That it was his unconscious way of just offering support, of being there, of maintaining their connection. That it was his love language.
Over the past year, she'd learned to do the same. To reach for him, as often as he would reach for her. To accept the kiss or the hand and to not pull away. To realize that not only did she feel better when she did and when she ignored anyone else's reaction, but that their relationship felt much more healthier overall.
The one thing that had surprised her the most about the change, was how little it was commented on. She'd been sure Owen would say something, but he hadn't (although she was sure he had noticed the change). And then that Maisie would say something — that being a teen now, she'd be grossed out or something. But she had actually looked relieved when she'd seen them be more affectionate around one another, which had made Claire actually feel worse about the time leading up to everything. And no one at the DPG had said anything. Well, okay, Zia had patted her on the back one day, and said "I'm glad things are getting better between you two," but that was it.
Claire actually thought the addition of Murphy had helped. There was something about the unconditional affection of a pet that made you feel less self-conscious. They didn't get embarrassed the same way as people. Always ready to express their emotions in the moment they were feeling them. Jumping from joy, wallowing in their sadness, wriggling with excitement, whatever it was, they just did it. Murphy had taught her it was fine to feel what she was feeling in the moment and to express it. And that, when you do that, it provides others with the opportunity to try to make it better, instead of having to always deal with it alone. Just like how she'd offer Murphy cuddles or treats or to play with him when he was feeling down in an effort to cheer him up.
Of course, she'd never tell Owen any of that, as she'd already made it a running joke over the years that he better not treat her like one of his raptors (or now dogs). Of course, he'd often joke back that he treated them really well, and that she'd be lucky to receive that much attention from him.
It was hard to believe that just over a year ago, they had been heading for divorce, that dinosaurs were back in the news again, for all the wrong reasons, and that Henry had reappeared in their lives with yet another crazy hybrid of his. And yet, knowing where they were now, how everything was now, Claire wouldn't want to redo anything. Sure, that time wasn't a highlight of her life, but she firmly believed that they were much stronger now, than they ever would've been without it.
Now, as Owen stepped over to the bleachers, opening his bag and pulling out a bottle of water, an evil thought crossed her mind and Claire couldn't help but say it. "Besides, have you seen the way some of Maisie's friends look at you?"
Her timing couldn't have been any better, as Owen had just taken a gulp of water, and he immediately sprayed it out, his face absolutely horrified as he started coughing.
"Please tell me you're joking," he begged between gasps for air.
She wasn't. Not really. And she recognized the look from Maisie's friends as very much of a "puppy love," but she did feel a tiny bit bad at how appalled he looked, so she just nodded. His face immediately relaxed, his shoulders slumping.
"That's not funny," he told her.
"It's a little funny," she said with a grin, before looking past him and out towards the field. She was surprised to see Murphy heading their way, apparently bored with playing catch.
Or, she realized, as she watched the dog, more interested in a snack, as Owen had turned and was digging around in his bag for more dog treats to put in the small pouch he had hanging on the side of his hip. Murphy immediately sat down, gazing hopefully up at Owen, who slipped him a treat as he closed his bag.
"I need to get back out there," Owen said, pointing to the field. "But thanks for taking Murph this morning."
"Yeah, I should probably get to work," Claire said with a sigh. She was sort of dreading leaving right now, although she knew once she got to work she'd be happy to be there. "I'll see you at home later."
She stepped forward and gave him another quick kiss.
"Oh, before I forget," Owen said just as he was about to turn and start across the field. "How did Murphy do? Any concerns from the vet?"
"Checkup was fine," Claire said. "Well, I mean, the results were fine. No concerns there. As for Murphy…"
"Oh no, really? For you, too?" Owen said, looking dismayed as he stared down at the dog, who was waiting patiently beside him. "Murphy? Really?"
Murphy immediately tilted his head down, as if in shame, although he was looking up at them with his puppy-dog eyes.
"He's lucky he's cute," Claire said, stepping forward and patting Murphy on his head. "But that doesn't mean I've forgotten, either," she said, as Murphy gave her hand a quick swipe with his tongue. "I'm not carrying you again."
"Murphy, we've talked about this," Owen chastised the dog. "Vets are friends. You like Zia, remember?"
"I better go," Claire interrupted before Owen could lapse into a lecture.
He looked over at her briefly to say "bye", before turning his attention back to the dog.
As Claire walked away, she could hear Owen still talking to Murphy. Just before she was about to turn the corner out of sight, she glanced back at them, watching as they walked back out onto the field, Murphy's tail was busy wagging with happiness. As she was about to look away, Owen glanced back, his eyes locking on hers momentarily, as he raised his hand in a quick wave. Murphy also looked back, letting out a little bark. Claire grinned, waving at them both. Yeah, life was good.
I'm so happy to know that so many of you are still enjoying this family and their little adventures. I'll try to continue it as ideas spike. This one came about from a few different ideas, including trying to have a Jealous!Claire (but I couldn't get that to work for her) and then coming up with Claire's lines about the trainer and Maisie's friends. It sort of meandered a bit, but hopefully still worked. :)
I've started working on my next "bigger" fic and am on chapter 3 (of what's looking to be 12, not counting the prologue and epilogue). Hoping to be ready to start posting it in May.