9

Claire glanced at her watch. It had was almost eight o'clock, which meant it had been three hours since she'd put Karen to bed. She didn't expect her sister to sleep through the night; the level of alcohol left in the bottle told Claire that Karen hadn't actually had too much to drink—just enough to get her good and sloshed.

They'd ordered pizza for dinner, and Owen and the kids had settled down to watch a movie. But Claire was too restless, so she'd escaped to the kitchen and begun brainstorming the DPG's new strategy, now that protecting the dinosaurs had turned into a mainland mission. She wasn't coming up with much, so when the phone rang, she was happy for the distraction.

"Mitchell residence."

There was a pause, and then a man's voice. "Who is this?"

Claire frowned. "This is Claire."

"Claire? It's Scott."

"Oh, hi," Claire said awkwardly.

Her ex-brother-in-law sounded surprised. "What are you doing there?"

"Just…helping out. In light of recent events."

"That's a nice way of saying that everything's gone to shit." Scott sighed. "Well, anyway, I'm glad you're there. I'm sure Karen is, too. Can I talk to her?"

Claire opened her mouth to tell him that Karen was taking a nap, but at that moment the woman in question stepped into the room.

"Just a second," Claire said into the phone, taking a good look at her elder sister.

Karen's nose was red, and it was obvious she'd been crying. But her eyes were clear and she seemed sober enough.

"Who is it?" she asked.

Claire covered the receiver. "It's Scott."

"Let me talk to him."

"Are you sure?" When Karen nodded, Claire handed the phone over and slipped into the hallway to give her sister some privacy.

She studied the pictures on the wall across from the stairs. School portraits of Zach and Gray, a few years old by the looks of them. A family photo taken at Disney World when the boys were much younger. Claire noticed it was the only one that had Scott in it. She smiled when she saw the framed shot of herself and the boys from the ski vacation she'd taken them on a year ago.

"They had such a good time on that trip." Karen had joined her sister in the hallway. She looked wistfully at the photo. "They always do, when they're with you."

"You've got to stop putting yourself down," Claire told her.

Karen shrugged and changed the subject. "Scott wanted to tell me that he and Leanne are going to her parents' house in Chicago. Leanne won't stay in California because of the dinosaurs." She wiped her nose with a ratty tissue. "Nice of him to let us know how to reach him."

"Karen…"

A tear slid down Karen's cheek. "I'm so sorry, Claire. I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry the boys had to see that." She took a deep breath. "God, I'm a terrible mother."

"You're not a terrible mother," Claire argued. "You're just…going through a hard time. But I think you need to talk to someone."

More tears. "I know. I know I do. I'm so embarrassed. I'm just glad you were here."

Claire knew she couldn't be her sister's crutch forever, but there was no way she was leaving her nephews to deal with this on their own.

"I'm not going anywhere just yet. Owen and I think it'd be a good idea if we stayed a little while longer." She hadn't exactly discussed this with Owen, but she had a feeling he would agree after today. "If that's okay with you."

Karen hunched in on herself and nodded. "You can stay as long as you want."

Claire bit her lip. "Do you want to talk to Zach and Gray?" she asked quietly.

Her sister nodded. "Can you send them up to my room?" It was obvious she wasn't ready to face everyone at once, and Claire agreed.

:

Gray led the way upstairs, a knot twisting in his stomach. Aunt Claire said Mom was better now, but he still didn't know what state he'd find her in. He didn't like seeing his mother anything less than her usual self. It reminded him that she was human and made mistakes, which was a disconcerting concept for a fourteen-year-old who had always looked to his parents for the answers.

Karen was sitting on the edge of the bed. She attempted to smile and patted the empty space next to her in invitation. Gray hurried to her side, but Zach stayed a few feet away, arms folded.

"How do you feel?" he asked stiffly.

"I'm okay." Her mouth wobbled. "Boys, I'm so sorry."

"You really scared us," Gray said softly.

"I'm so sorry," Karen repeated. "I never wanted to do that."

Gray wrapped his arms around his mother and buried his face in her shoulder. "I just want you to be happy again," he mumbled.

She stroked his hair. "Oh, sweetheart. You make me happy." She pulled back and looked between her sons. "You know I love you both more than anything, right?" Both boys nodded, Zach less enthusiastically than Gray. "I know things haven't been great around here lately, but it's going to get better. I promise."

:

The next day after breakfast, Claire went looking for Zach. She knew he was upset over what had transpired the night before, and he'd been avoiding everyone all morning. She finally located him on the back deck, slouched in a chair with his eyes glued to his phone.

"Zach?"

He didn't look up. "Did you know that dinosaurs were around for almost 180 million years? And there've only been people for like 2.5 million years?"

Claire smirked. "You sound like Gray."

Zach put his phone away and paced restlessly to the railing. "I'm serious. I mean, have you ever really thought about that? About how insignificant we are, in the grand scheme of things?"

Simon Masrani's words echoed from Claire's memory: Jurassic World exists to remind us how very small we are. How new.

"Yes," she admitted. "What's your point?"

He sighed. "It puts problems in perspective. But…what's going to happen when summer ends and school starts back up? I can't leave Gray here alone with Mom like this."

Claire crossed the deck to her nephew. "You can't put your life on hold, Zach. Your mom's going to be just fine. And so is Gray."

"I blamed myself for what happened to us on the island," Zach admitted. "I was the one who decided to ditch Zara. I was the one who didn't take the gryosphere back when we were supposed to. I was the one who drove us through the broken gate."

"You couldn't have known—" Claire began, but he cut her off.

"I was supposed to take care of Gray. Instead I almost got him killed." He shook his head. "The point is, it took a long time for me to be able to forgive myself for what happened. Sometimes I still have trouble. Leaving for college was hard for me, and I don't think I could do it again, not with everything going on. I need to be here."

Zach's eyes beseeched his aunt to understand, and the thing was, she did. She'd struggled with a lot of guilt herself after the incident at Jurassic World. People died and she'd played a part in that, no matter how innocent her intentions had been. Her insecurities had been renewed when Mills called her and Owen "the parents of the new world." Claire didn't want to believe it, but she had to admit the words held a ring of truth.

She pulled Zach into a hug. "You should be talking to your mom about this. But if I can offer one piece of advice? Don't make any decisions right this minute. We don't know where things will stand in a couple of months."

:

Owen walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and saw Maisie sitting alone at the kitchen table, chin resting on her hands and troubled gaze fixed on the opposite wall.

"What's up?" he asked, settling into the chair next to her.

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I've been thinking about that video, the one I saw with you and the velociraptors."

"Oh, yeah?"

"They're really smart, aren't they?"

He grinned. "The smartest."

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

Owen didn't have to ask who "she" was.

"Yeah. I do."

"She must be so lonely," Maisie lamented.

"Hey. Blue is tough." He nudged her shoulder playfully. "Kinda like someone else I know."

"Well, then that's the second thing we have in common." She twisted her fingers together. "Do you think Grandpa was ever going to tell me?"

Owen leaned forward in his chair, folding his hands. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I never met your grandpa."

Maisie pursed her lips thoughtfully. "If it was you, would you want to know more? If you had the chance, would you take it?"

"Yes."

She nodded and pushed her chair back, standing up.

"There's something I need to do."

:

Zach and Gray were setting up the gaming console when Maisie found them.

"I want to see what Grandpa's book says," she announced. The brothers' heads shot up with interest, and she bit her lip. "Would you come look at it with me?"