New Beginnings - Chapter 9 - Sorry

Previously…

"Mama!" the kid yelled. Owen turned around, ready to hand the child over. But he stopped. So did the mother.

And for the first time in many years, Claire Dearing and Owen Grady stared at each other in the middle of a dinosaur park.

Neither Claire nor Owen moved an inch. Both just stared at each other, registering what was in front of them. Claire's eyes began glistening with an onslaught of tears, which caused Owen's old instincts to kick in; he started walking towards her. As he came closer, Claire took a slow, tentative step forward, but her pace picked up quickly. The two collided in a matter of seconds, with Owen's empty arm wrapping around Claire's waist, and Claire's arms encircling Owen's ribcage; Nicolas was happily crushed between his parents.

"Claire," Owen breathed into her hair after kissing her forehead.

"Owen," Claire quietly sobbed in response. The pair stayed like that for what seemed like ages, just relishing in each other's hold, not knowing what to say, until Nicolas began squirming restlessly in Owen's grip.

"Uh, I believe this is yours," Owen blurted in an odd tone as he slowly handed the child over to Claire's awaiting arms. He watched her adjust the boy in her hold. Owen couldn't quite put an emotion to what he was feeling. There was a kid: Claire's kid. Apparently, I've been gone way longer than I thought...

"Actually," Claire began, biting her lower lip nervously, "He's...ours." Owen felt his whole world stop.

"Ours?" he repeated, dumbfounded. Claire gave her signature small smile and nodded. Of course...that's why he looked so...familiar to me. Owen reached out hesitantly, and covered the little boy's hand.

"Nicolas, can you say 'Dada' for me?" Claire cooed softly, while pointing at Owen. Owen chuckled.

"Nicolas," he murmured, "Hey there, little Nick." Nicolas smiled in response and opened his mouth.

"D...da..da!" he stuttered out excitedly. Owen's eyes lit up.

"Wow...I'm really a dad…," he laughed softly to himself. He turned his attention to Claire. "But...when?" Claire looked away from him, and hugged Nicolas closer, subconsciously edging away.

"When you went...missing...remember how I was sick?" Claire recalled. Owen nodded slowly. "Well...I found out I was pregnant. I called you...over and over...but you didn't answer...," Claire trailed off, new tears forming in her eyes. Nicolas frowned at his mother's distraught state. Owen felt his chest collapse.

"God, Claire, I'm so sorry," he said with a lump forming in his throat. He approached Claire, wanting to hold her to provide comfort. But, she took a step away from his outreached hand.

"Everyday...I searched and waited for you," she said, almost angrily. She looked Owen in the eye. Now her tears were cascading down her cheeks full force. "But you never came back…," she whispered, her voice breaking. Owen stood for a second, processing Claire's words.

Claire was always a strong individual. Owen knew that, and loved that about her. He knew that, if he had been there with her, then she would have gotten through everything headstrong. But he wasn't there, which hurt him even more having to see Claire broken like this. He wasn't there for her when she needed him most. All those promises...broken.

"Claire," Owen said while pulling her into his embrace. She struggled for a second, but gave in.

Claire wanted to forget all she went through. She wanted to forget those lonely days where she felt...empty. The love of her life had disappeared into thin air; he had left her alone. She felt angry, and she wanted to remain angry with Owen...but she couldn't.

"God, Owen, what happened?" she cried into his chest. Owen hugged her tighter, careful not to squish Nicolas.

"That day I disappeared? I was taken away and forced to work for Dr. Wu," he explained. Claire tugged away from his clutch.

"Dr. Wu?" she bristled. Owen nodded.

"He escaped the island with some things from the lab and made a new species of dinosaur, and he wanted me to train them...just like the raptors."

"That lunatic," Claire swore, "Why didn't you try to run? I'm sure you could have made it…"

"I wanted to, Claire, believe me," Owen responded in a strained tone, "But if I didn't cooperate with him, he threatened to hurt you." Claire stared at the ground. So he had to stay here...because of me…

"Owen...I'm sorry," she uttered, "Because of me-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's not your fault," he interrupted, taking Claire's free hand in his. "What matters now is that we're here- together." He looked at both Nicolas and Claire. All he wanted was to go home with his family. Claire noted the look in his eyes.

"Let's just...leave-get off this godforsaken island," she suggested. Her anxiety grew with every passing second. She was afraid something would happen, and she would lose Owen again, right when she had just reunited with him.

"That's one hell of an idea," Owen said lightly, "But someone has to stop Wu before that crazy son of a bitch does something disasterous."

"Owen…"

"Claire, no one else is going to even try to stop him; no one else knows what's going on," he said. He stared Claire right in the eyes. "I want you and Nicolas to leave and go home, just in case something happens." Immediately, Claire straightened herself, and placed a hand on her unoccupied hip.

"There is no way in hell am I leaving this island without you," she said hotly, "If you're going to take down Wu, I'm taking him down with you."

"Claire, it's dangerous. I'm not gonna risk you and Nick-" Owen started in a stern tone. But, with a face of determination, Claire stomped past him, towards a group of buildings where she assumed Wu's office resided.

"He takes Owen away, and just assumes nothing's going to happen to him?" she muttered to herself. "Well, Wu's got another thing coming." As she stormed away in a flurry, Owen was left with no choice other than to chase after Claire, to stop Dr. Wu once and for all.

"Dr. Wu?" a walkie-talkie crackled to life. Wu looked up from his computer, and grabbed the device.

"Is there a problem?" he responded.

"Owen Grady has made contact with Claire Dearing." Henry felt annoyance bubble into his mind.

"I thought you were watching him?" he said, irritated.

"My apologies, sir. He slipped away. But that's not the problem."

"Alright, what is the problem then?"

"The two are headed straight towards your office." Wu raised his eyebrows. So they're planning to come to me...Knowing Grady, it's probably to try and stop me... He stood up from his desk, and walked to the window, looking out at the massive crowd below.

"Stop me?" he voiced aloud. "You have no idea what you've just done, Mr. Grady." He sauntered back to his desk, and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Sir? What is the course of action? Stop them?"

"No, no. Don't stop them," Wu said with a small smile, "I want you to release the dinosaurs."
"Sir?!" He shut off the gadget, before any arguing.

"Time for a field test."

a/n: sorry for the long break; i got a bit busy :s

and sorry if the quality of this chapter is worse than the others…i just had a lot of trouble writing it idk

also there was a typo-mistake type thing last chapter and i really wanted to reupload but i decided against it because it just was a small error (but if you saw it, i hope it didn't bother you too much! if you didn't see it, then don't worry about it :p)

anyway thanks for reading! see you next chapter!