Everyone was around the table for dinner, talking out loud to each other as they passed the platters of food around.
"Hey, don't worry about the Warehouse, I took care of it!" Pete assured Claudia and Steve as he passed the meat loaf over to Harper.
Steve smiled "Well, thanks Pete."
Claudia nodded "Yeah, thanks."
Claudia looked over at Steve, his black eye getting dark as the hours passed; though while the experience of him getting the black eye wasn't pleasant, the story was hilarious.
Myka cleared her throat "So what were you guys doing in the Warehouse with Harper and Mrs. Frederic?" she asked.
The parents stopped and looked at each other while Harper began to pick at her dinner; the house went silent before Myka finally gave up and went back to dinner.
"I'm the next Caretaker." Harper muttered.
Myka looked up at Harper "What?"
Harper looked at Myka "I'm the next Caretaker of the Warehouse…after mommy…" she said, continuing to pick at her dinner.
Myka looked at Steve and Claudia in shock, the both of them were quiet as they put their forks down; the entire table was staring at them now as they both tried to find the words to explain.
"The Warehouse sees something in her; it knows that she doesn't belong, but at the same time she does." Claudia said.
The room went silent, the air was a strong energy around it before Harper put her fork down "I'm not hungry anymore." She muttered before getting up from the table and going upstairs.
The adults watched as Harper went out of their view before turning back to Steve and Claudia, the both of them still as stone before Artie cleared his throat "Well, this is rather nerve racking." He muttered.
Harper had gone to bed on her own as Steve and Claudia cleaned up the living room and kitchen by themselves.
"We should talk to her about this, I don't think she understands that this isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's just surprising." Claudia said.
Steve threw a pillow on the couch "Can we talk about something than Harper for two seconds?" he asked.
Claudia looked at him "Why?"
"It's been a week and a half and our lives have gone from simple Warehouse agents to batshit crazy unfit parents!" Steve remarked.
Claudia gagged "We are not unfit parents, granted we don't know what we're doing, but I think we're doing okay all things considered!"
Steve shook his head "Yeah, but my life went from finding dangerous artifacts to keeping track of a 3-year olds teddy bear."
"You gave her that teddy bear!" Claudia yelled.
"IT'S BESIDES THE POINT, CLAUDIA!" he yelled back at her.
They both took a deep breathe "I miss…Steve time…and I'm sure you miss Claudia time…hell, I miss Claudia and Steve time! I mean, it's like we're in this together…but I feel like I'm losing you in this whole process." Steve said.
"You're not losing me." Claudia comforted.
"Then why does it feel like I am? I mean, every conversation that we have outside of working is about Harper, and it's driving me crazy because I don't feel like me anymore." Steve remarked.
Claudia crossed her arms "Then what do you want to talk about? What do you want to do? Tell me, and we'll go do it." Claudia said.
"…I don't know." He muttered.
Claudia began to fight tears as she looked down, then back up at Steve "Then maybe Artie was right, we should have just covered her in goo when we had the chance…and we wouldn't have had to worry about all of this crap." She said, venom spewing out of her mouth.
Steve clenched his jaw "You're unbelievable." He muttered as he walked into the foyer and grabbed his coat.
"Where are you going?" Claudia asked, following him.
"I'm going out!" Steve said.
Claudia shook her head "No, you can't! You can't leave me here with this mess!"
"Well, too bad!" Steve said before he opened and slammed the front door behind him, leaving Claudia standing alone in the foyer.
Claudia walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, she took the pillow from behind her and held it close as she began to sob quietly in the living room by herself.
Myka had heard the entire argument from upstairs, she sighed as she tapped her fingers against the stair frame before quietly making her way to Harpers' bedroom.
She opened the door quietly and peeked her head in to find that something was out of place "Harper?" she asked as she turned the bedroom light on.
Harper was missing from her bed.
"Harper!?" Myka called out, searching all over the bedroom when she found a hand-written note on the floor almost hiding under her bed.
Myka leaned down to pick up the letter and read it to herself "Oh, no." she muttered.
"Claudia!" Myka called out, racing down the stairs with the note in her hand.
Claudia brushed her tears away as she stood up from the couch "Yeah?" she asked.
Myka rushed into the living room "Harper ran away!" she said, fear covering her face as she handed Claudia the note.
Claudia looked down at the note "I don't want to be Caretaker, and it's obvious that I am a burden to mommy and daddy. Don't worry, Leena will take care of me. Goodbye – Harper." She said, as she sat back down on the couch.
"I'm gonna go wake up Pete!" Myka said as she rushed back upstairs to retrieve her partner.
"I'm going to call Steve." She said, grabbing her cell phone out of her back pocket when the memory of the fight began to flood back to her.
Claudia huffed "No, I'm not going to let that get in the way of this!" she thought as she dialed Steve's' speed dial and put her phone to her ear.
Steve rejected her call.
Claudia screamed "Steve!" she yelled as she hung up her phone and texted him.
"Harper ran away. Come home now. – C." she texted before putting her cell phone back in her back pocket.