Chapter 14

Brooklynn snapped her eyes open around 2 AM, breathing heavily and felt a body against her, her gaze moving until she somewhat saw the peaceful face of Mark. His arm was draped around her waist and he hadn't stirred when she woke up. Claira. Did she really kick her own daughter out of their house? Brooklynn had to make things right, extracting herself from Mark's arms and left the room, moving toward Claira's.

The door was closed, and she was shaking from head to toe, trying to make sense of the VERY vivid dream she'd had. So much had happened, it was overwhelming, and Brooklynn was scared to death to open that door to see the mainly empty room. Instead, everything was where it was supposed to be and Claira was sound asleep in her bed. Nothing was packed up and gone, nothing was out of place, even the television was back.

Brooklynn covered her mouth with her hand, tears streaming down her cheeks and wanted to hold her baby girl close, fighting the urge not to drop to her knees. Slowly walking over to her, Brooklynn pulled the blanket over her further and kissed the top of Claira's head, trying to wrap her mind around what happened. It FELT so real…Brooklynn would NEVER kick Claira out of the house, no matter the circumstances.

"I love you, Claira May." She whispered, reluctantly leaving the room and closed the door behind her, jumping out of her skin at the sight of Mark standing there. "W-What are you doing up? Are you okay?" The last thing she remembered with Mark was he'd passed out on the living room floor due to pain because of his bond severed between him and Bastet…

Bastet, was she really dead or was she alive?

A tired, somewhat amused smile flickered across his face as he stared down at her, green eyes hazy from sleep. "Darlin', you moved away from me, that usually does wake me up." He rumbled softly, having watched her thing with Claira and assumed she'd had some bad dream. After the kitchen incident, and Bastet, he supposed he didn't blame her. "You all right, Brooklynn?"

There wasn't an ounce of anger in his eyes as he stared at her and Brooklynn felt relief course through her body, reaching up to caress his face with the back of her hand. "Yeah, I…I just had to check on Claira." That made no sense considering she was 16, but to Brooklynn, she would always be her baby. "I'm sorry I woke you up." Mark drew her into his arms and Brooklynn sighed, burying her face in his chest to inhale his scent, feeling his warmth. "I love you, Mark. I love you and Claira with all my heart." They were her world and she would not lose either of them.

A bit more awake now, he flashed her a grin before scooping her up into his arms, feeling her head lolling against his shoulder as he carried her effortlessly back to their bedroom. It hurt, Bastet not being there, and he felt the twinge in his chest. His Familiar dying… Mark hadn't expected that; he had assumed that, because they were tied together, she would live as long as he had, but… she had already lived a long, unnatural life. He still wasn't sure what the repercussions of her death would be, not with everything she had kept locked for him, but… he'd face it when it showed.

"You want to tell me about your dream?"

"It was awful and I did so many horrible things. Bastet died…and…" Brooklynn saw the flash of pain cross his face and knew that part of her dream was a reality. Bastet was gone, their loving sometimes temperamental cat that had given so much to them. "I'm sorry…" She whispered, feeling him pull her into his arms and snuggled against him, stroking his chest to comfort him any way she could. In the dream, she'd been terrible to him and Brooklynn couldn't imagine acting the way she did. "I was a terrible person to you and to Claira…I kicked her out of the house, Mark. I would NEVER do something like that to our daughter, not in a million years. It was over Seth too, which I don't understand…" They liked Seth, he was a nice boy and he treated their daughter like gold. Besides the irresponsibility every teenage girl goes through, Claira was a great kid. "Mickie, John, Milayna, Steve and Trish came here for a visit to try to help you with Bastet's condition and they found out what Claira did to the kitchen…and Mickie lost her shit over it, which you know is not like her." Mickie was very levelheaded and thought things through before acting. "It felt so real…too real…it scared me and still does because I don't know where it came from…"

That sounded like a hell of a dream, well, nightmare actually and Mark just couldn't see it happening. Claira HAD set the kitchen on fire during an outburst over being grounded, and he had Bound her magic, but he had also explained it to Claira. She had been terrified that her minor temper spike had done that. He didn't blame her. "Hell if I know, darlin', dream reading isn't my thing." Melina maybe, but not him. Sighing, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "At least it WAS just a dream." Mark didn't want to imagine that being their reality.

"What happened yesterday? I'm trying to…make sense of this. Trying to see what's dream and what's reality."

Mark recalled the previous day with Bastet dying, burying her in the backyard under her favorite tree and Claira had taken off school to be here with them. There was no call from the school counselor or Claira turning her into CPS. No screaming at Seth's mother, Jennifer, for an hour about how her son was a menace to society and a bad influence on her daughter. No visits from any of the circle, though she did remember the call she'd had with Trish regarding the girls night.

"Okay…okay…" Brooklynn shifted in his arms to straddle his lap and softly kissed him, resting her forehead against his. "I'm so sorry about Bastet. I loved her too."

"I know you did, darlin'." He sighed, hugging her just a bit tighter, the ache in his chest flaring again. Losing Bastet… hell, if it hurt this bad for his Familiar, he wasn't planning on sticking around to find out what it would feel like if he lost Brooklynn or Claira. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his eyes closing. "Definitely a messed up dream if you're having issues reconciling it with what's actually happened when you're awake."

"Yeah it was, but I'm just glad it was mostly a dream and Claira isn't gone."

Brooklynn shuddered at the fading memory and stroked his hair through her fingers, letting him hold her as close as he wanted. Bastet had been poisoned magically; Mark had figured it out, but it was too late to save her and he'd been trying to find the culprit. It seemed they left the Houston area in a hurry and Mark hated the fact he couldn't stop them and avenge his Familiar's death.

"I need to talk to Claira…I need her to know we're always here for her and I'd never, ever kick her out." One thing Brooklynn could safely say was she did what she could for Claira and was a good mother.

"Darlin', I don't think that's ever been a concern of hers, no matter how much trouble she's in." Mark tried and failed to suppress his mild amusement at that. "Though you tell her you had a dream like that and she might start worryin'." He kissed where neck met shoulder, nipping at the flesh lightly. "She knows you love her, even when she's being a pain in your ass."

He could always manage to calm her down, even when she felt at her lowest and bring her back from the edge of insanity. Of course, he could also drive her to the brink of insanity, but that was a pleasurable experience. Right now, he was making her feel better about her dream and the situation with Claira, comforting her when it should've been the other way around.

"Thank you." Brooklynn murmured, pulling back to glide her lips across each of his eyebrows and down his nose, her hands massaging his broad shoulders. "I'm not gonna tell her about the dream. I don't wanna scare her and, besides, what she doesn't know won't hurt her." There were some things Claira didn't need to find out about ever. "Enough about my dream, how are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Lay back down with me for starters."

It was late, or early, depending on which way one looked at it. Since becoming a 'settled' man, his nocturnal habits had been reluctantly broken as he shifted into normalcy, even doing the 9-5 thing and all that jazz. Brooklynn had grown up with guidance for her abilities and it had been a terrifying experience for her. She had never known what being normal was, not really, just what normal was for HER. They had been trying to give Claira the courtesy of not growing up freaking the hell out every time something decidedly not 'normal' cropped up.

"Now how can I deny a request like that?"

Brooklynn brushed her lips against his and moved to lay down like she had been when she woke up. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him and she rolled to rest her head on his chest, her leg draping over his and her hand resting over his beating heart. It never got old or stale between them, not even after 17 years. Settling down meant they both had to change their ways, especially when they had Claira. She had actually been responsible for switching their nocturnal schedules around to be more normal. Most babies slept during the day and were up at night, but not Claira. She had a normal sleeping schedule from the time she was born, and it had taken both Mark and Brooklynn some getting used to.

"Morning parents, I made you breakfast, and I bring it to you on a tray!" Claira had made sure to peek first; she had walked in on them naked or doing bad things a bit too often when she was younger. She was more cautious these days.

"You're still grounded, lil darlin'." Mark didn't pull his face away from where it was buried in Brooklynn's chest. It was a school day and probably 6 AM because Claira was insane and didn't sleep in like normal people. He smelled bacon. "Maybe."

"I also made toad in the hole…" Claira wheedled, giggling when her Mom's head raised. Toad in the hole was something she had learned from Aunt Trish, delicious way to eat bread and an egg at the same time.

Claira had her mother's ability to con him.

This was a very sweet gesture and, luckily, nothing major had gotten damaged in the kitchen from her magical temper tantrum. Just the walls and curtains, it was nothing some scrapping and paint couldn't take care of, along with new curtains. After the dream she had, Brooklynn couldn't help smiling at her daughter and crooked her finger at her, waiting for her to set the tray down. She pulled Claira in her arms, hugging her and didn't let go right away like she normally would have.

"Thank you for breakfast, sweetheart." She kissed Claira's forehead, knowing this was the teen's way of buttering them up to get her ungrounded. "Come on, eat with me and Daddy and let's talk."

Communication was the key with a teenager, right? Maybe if they talked rationally, they could come to an understanding. Honestly, Claira didn't want to have this discussion because she was fairly embarrassed. She knew she was a slob, and she was really bad about making sure stuff wound up in the trash, including personal products. The fact that her Dad had finally STEPPED on one… yeah… that, the lectures, the grounding, she could feel her face flushing.

Bacon, hash, toads in holes… toaster strudels -she was definitely a teen-, and there was even a travel mug of coffee for him and juice for Brooklynn. "Wow… Claira… you should kiss ass more often, lil darlin'."

"Ha-ha-ha, Dad…" She rolled her eyes as she helped herself to a slice of bacon.

Brooklynn chuckled, unable to help herself and took Claira's hand in hers, squeezing it gently. "Sweetheart, I know sometimes you're in a rush and you're more worried about school and your boyfriend than cleaning up after yourself. I get it. But…Daddy really doesn't want to step in your…stuff anymore. So, here's what we're gonna do. If you PROMISE to clean your bathroom and start using it, instead of the one he does, and KEEP it clean, meaning throwing your messes away, I'll lift the grounding and you can have your phone back." As tempted as she was to clean Claira's bathroom, Brooklynn had to make her do it. "BUT…you have to clean your bathroom from top to bottom and KEEP it that way. Think you can handle that?"

"Mostly?" Claira was a bit of a slob, and she knew it. Not like hoarding and stuffing soda cans and candy wrappers everywhere, kind of, slob. More of a 'let my clothes chill where they land and there's always shit on my desk', kind of, slob. Bathrooms… she was just bad. "I'll clean it today, after school, and keep it that way."

"If not, I'm taking your phone away for the rest of the year."

Dad was serious. Swallowing, she nodded and crossed her heart. "And I won't use the other bathroom anymore."

Thank the stars, he did not need to see or step in another pantyliner.

"If I were you, I'd just keep your stuff cleaned up. It won't take you that long and you do have a hamper for a reason to toss your clothes in." Brooklynn reminded with a wink, agreeing with Mark and sighed with relief at how smooth this had gone over. They really did have a great daughter. She wasn't a troublemaker, just a slob and that was normal for a teenager. "Clean your bathroom after school and you won't be grounded anymore. But the bathroom has to be cleaned first."

Claira nodded in understanding and hugged her parents, thanking them for talking to her about this. "I promise." She looked a little sheepishly at her father. "I'm sorry, Daddy…about what happened to Bastet and the pantyliner." The cat wasn't so bad, even with its appearing and disappearing act, which was part of the Familiar's power. "I-I'm gonna go get ready for school."

"She's a good kid, we did awesome." Mark chuckled, still helping himself to the food. Claira was well aware of how much he could eat because this tray was loaded. "Come on, darlin', eat. Our daughter made us breakfast in bed." He teased, nudging a piece of the egg in the toast thing towards her. "Though, if she doesn't uphold her end of the deal, I will have her service ended and smash the phone." Because deals weren't meant to be broken and Claira knew it. Mark didn't think they would have a problem though.

"Yeah, we did."