Clair heard a knock on her door. "Go AWAY, dad!" she yelled.
"Clair, its Aviva," Aviva said from the other side if the door.
Clair sighed and said, "Come in if you must."
Aviva slowly opened the door and walked in, sitting at the foot of Clair's bed. After a moment of silence, Aviva said, "He was just trying to give you something normal, sweetie."
"But how is that normal? He was with me all day!" Clair said angrily.
Aviva sighed and said, "Its something most dads ask every day."
Clair clenched her fists and said, "I don't care. Did it ever occur to him that I don't want a dad like every other? Did it occur to him that I just want to be with him when he's being himself?"
Aviva looked surprised. "Sweetie, its not possible for everyone to know what everyone wants. And has it ever occured to you that he wanted to have a normal life with you? That he wants you to feel like you fit in?"
Clair opened her fists and leaned against Aviva. "I don't fit in, and I never will. I'd rather have my dad, the creature adventurer, than some normal dad. I need something, or someone, that I can be proud of. I don't want a normal dad because it makes me feel… It makes me feel like I'm below everybody else." Clair started to cry softly.
Aviva wrapped her arm around Clair. "Oh, sweetie… You need to learn that you are an equal to everyone, no matter what others say. You will always be able to be proud of your dad, even if he is normal. I mean, your dad has been all around the world! How many people can say that?"
Clair snuggled closer to Aviva, wiping her tears away with her sleeves. "I guess you're right," Clair said softly.
At this moment, Chris was coming by to talk to Clair, but seeing Aviva and Clair snuggled up together like that, just like Clair and he used to, was too much for him. He went for a walk.
After about 5 minutes of sitting with Clair, Aviva said, "Come on. You and your dad need to talk."
Clair reluctantly got up with Aviva and followed her out of the room.
"He's probably in his room," Aviva said.
Clair nodded her head and said, "lead the way."
When they reached Chris's and Martin's room, they knocked on the door.
"Come in!" they heard Martin call. They opened the door and went in.
"Where's dad?" Clair asked softly.
"Don't know. I haven't seen him in a while. Not since dinner," Martin said. Clair looked up at Aviva with alarmed eyes.
Aviva reached over and gave a reassuring squeeze to Clair's shoulder. "I'm sure that he is just out for a walk. He'll be back soon." Clair nodded her head slowly.
"In the meantime, do you want to spend time with your Uncle Martin?" Martin asked with a grin.
"I'm good," Clair said. Then she slowly turned around and walked back to her room, disappointed that she couldn't talk to her dad.