The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Feeling the sheets where Owen should be I noticed they were cold. He's been up for a while. Though the guest bedroom was set up with toys for Maisie, she bunked with Gray for the night.
I got up to peek into his room and smiled. They were both in sleeping bags on the floor laying close to each other. For the first time in a few days I knew they were sleeping soundly. They had each other.
Closing the door quietly, I heard someone downstairs and the strong smell of coffee was too tempting to ignore.
"Morning, Claire Bear," Karen smiled over her mug. She sat at the kitchen table.
"Where's Owen?" I asked noticing he wasn't anywhere in the house.
"Him and Zach went to go pick up the van?" She made the statement a question, raising her eyebrow.
"Ugh," I groaned, slumping down in the chair beside my sister. "He wants us to go off the grid for a while. Apparently we will be living out of a van."
Karen pursed her lips, waiting for me to continue.
"I don't mind traveling for a little while. It actually sounds fun. Maisie hasn't seen anything other than the island, so it'll be fun seeing the world through her eyes."
"Ok," she answered cautiously.
We drank our coffee in silence for a few minutes.
"Oh," I remembered I needed to talk to Karen while Owen wasn't around. "They are sending men over to some of the houses to retrieve personal artifacts. I put your address down for our stuff. We'll move it to a storage unit until we come back from our cross country trip or whatever it is Owen has planned."
She nodded, smiling spreading wide across her face.
I rolled my eyes. "This doesn't mean I'm moving back home. There's no where else to send our stuff."
"Ok," her smile grew.
"I'm trying to get Owen's motorcycle here, but it's a surprise."
"You're a good wife." Karen giggled.
"I'm guessing you and Scott are…" I trailed off not knowing how to finish the sentence. She hasn't brought up the fact that she sent the boys to me so they could settle their divorce. They showed up to pick up the boys together, but I haven't seen him since we arrived yesterday.
She shook her head and looked down at her mug.
I narrowed my eyes. "What, I have to talk about my marriage and you think you can shut down when I ask you about yours?"
"We went through with the divorce. There was nothing left to fight for." She said quickly.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Don't be sorry. Just fix your marriage and break this ugly cycle our family has started." She got up to refill her mug.
She was right. Our parents struggled with their marriage after I went off to College. They tried to make it work, but in the end they were happier being apart. Karen and Scott had a similar situation. Now here I was, feeling like Owen and I were hanging on by a thread that could snap at any moment.
"I will," I promised. "we will be fine."
"Mommy?" Maisie called out from the second floor.
"In the kitchen!" I informed her loud enough so she could hear me.
Two sets of feet raced down the stairs.
Maisie rubbed her eyes as she crossed the room. I pulled her onto my lap and kissed her hair.
"How did you sleep?" I asked her.
"Good! Gray and I pretended we were camping."
Gray let out an embarrassed laugh. "Her idea, not mine."
"We're back!" Zach called out as he walked into the house. "Uncle Owen got donuts."
Gray and Maisie ran to grab the box from his hands.
Zach walked over to poke my shoulder. "Uncle Owen wants you outside."
I sighed. "Of course he does." I grabbed two donuts. One for me and one for Owen and made my way outside.
I froze on the front steps. The van in front of me looked no different than a tin can. We were supposed to live in that?
"Well?" Owen asked, stepping out of the van and holding his hands out towards it.
"It's…" I shifted my weight from one leg to the other. "Well…" I trailed off again not sure what to say.
"I know!" Owen took my loss for words as a compliment. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was the exact opposite. "I paid cash for it. It was a great deal!"
I walked slowly towards him. He took one of the donuts out of my hand and leaned down to kiss me.
"Owen," I said carefully. "we have the money to get something a little… bigger." Nicer.
"No," he disagreed. "this is perfect." He took my hand and led me inside.
Though the van was small it was cute inside. The kitchenette and living room were the same thing. A table that I could tell turned into a bed separated the living area from the small bathroom. A pocket door at the very back of the van led into a small bedroom with a queen size bed. My eyes raised in surprise that a bed that size actually fit in here.
"Go get dressed! I want to hit the road." Owen moved by me grabbing my donut out of my hand on his way by.
"Owen!" I complained. "That was mine!"
"I know!" He called over his shoulder. "I ate mine."
I rolled my eyes and followed him out of our… home.
I found myself stalling as I made sure everything was packed. Organizing and then reorganizing my bag I sat at the foot of the bed in the guest room.
"Ready?" Karen asked, poking her head in the doorway.
I shook my head. "I don't think I can leave without Maisie." I could hear the kids playing out in the snow. Karen had made sure Maisie had warm clothes and a snowsuit among the surprises she had for her.
"It's a few days, Claire. She'll be fine." She walked over to grab my bag from me and turned back towards the door just as Owen walked in.
He took my bag from Karen and silently led the way down the stairs. I could see the struggle in his eyes as well. This was going to be harder than we thought.
Karen followed us out to the van and when she knew the kids were still in the back she grabbed both our arms. "Figure things out. Don't sit in silence waiting for the other to start the conversation. Talk about everything on your mind. I don't want to see you pull back in this driveway until there's nothing else you need to discuss. I will have Maisie call you to say goodnight."
I hugged my sister and she kissed my cheek. "Oh and if you come back pregnant that would be good, too."
I laughed as I pulled away from her. "One is enough."
She shrugged and turned to stomp her way through the snow to call around the back of the house.
Maisie stumbled towards us, not quiet coordinated enough to walk through the snow. Being that this was her very first time ever seeing it.
Owen laughed behind me as she tripped over her bulky boots and landed on her knees in the snow.
She laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes. She was happy. I never thought I would hear that laugh again.
Zach scooped her up like she was a football and walked over to us. He placed her on her feet and she was still laughing.
I reached for her, pulling her hat back so I could see her eyes. "Be good, ok?" I choked on the lump in my throat.
"I will!" She bounced in front of me. I was relieved she wasn't begging us not to leave.
She hugged me and moved to hug Owen.
Karen had to shove us in the van in order to get us to leave.
The three kids waved until we couldn't see them anymore. Maisie's cheeky smile never left her face.