Claire was feeling okay. The past few days had been neither good nor bad, but they weren't exactly boring, either. Lily kept Claire and Owen busy, so there was hardly a moment of relaxation. It had been ages since Claire had had the time to pick up a book, and she sometimes missed the days when she could shut herself away in her office and be alone. Her job at Jurassic World could be hectic, yes, but more often than not, she was able to find an excuse to keep people away. Then again, she had mostly been keeping Owen away, which in hindsight was a very poor decision indeed. Thinking back to that time, Claire could see just how far she'd come. She was warmer, friendlier, and more sympathetic than ever before. She could hardly believe that she'd changed so much, but then again, she had changed. It was surprising that she'd ever had hair or lips or fingers. She wasn't even sure she remembered what it was like to be human. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because Claire somewhat enjoyed being a dinosaur. She now used her tail so naturally that one would think she'd been born with it. She was quite skilled at picking up large objects, moving furniture, and even whacking things with her thagomizer. She couldn't count how many times she'd given Owen a gentle squeeze with her tail as she walked by. He seemed to like it. And that was another aspect of her new self: Claire had found a way to fit Owen into her life. Before, she would have been embarrassed to be caught in the same room as him, but now . . .
Claire felt very stupid for ever turning Owen down. She must have been crazy, or else completely blind. How could she have ever doubted someone so kind and sweet and attractive and loyal and gentle and attractive and sensitive and attractive and charming and attractive and attractive and attractive . . .
Claire moaned and rolled over.
"Owen, I think I'm going into heat!" she slurred.
He zipped up the stairs at a breakneck speed.
"You sure?"
Claire laughed sassily.
"That was fast."
Owen ran his hand down her frill.
"I figured we could have some alone-time, since Zara is looking after Lily today."
Claire leaned forward and kissed him. They didn't part for a long time. When they did, Claire gave a quiet moo.
"I'm so happy . . ."
"Glad to hear it."
Claire rubbed her cheek against the top of Owen's head.
"You're happy too, right?"
"Happier than I've ever been in my life!" he affirmed, "I never thought I'd be this successful."
Claire giggled.
"You think marrying a dinosaur counts as success?"
"Marrying Claire Dearing counts as success. Especially when I have friends and family to listen to me brag about it."
Claire laughed and moved in for another kiss. As Owen clung to her neck, she rolled backwards and let him perch himself on her belly. She rested her chin on his shoulder as his hands began to wander. She nipped his ear gently and smiled.
"This is what I thought it would be like."
"What?" he asked distractedly.
"Being normal. Having a life. This is what I imagined. This is what I wanted. It's even better than I expected."
Owen kissed her neck.
"I'm glad you think so."
Claire wagged her tail.
"I mean, I know we're not technically normal, since I'm a dinosaur, but that's all just background noise now. I think I like things the way they are."
Owen nodded.
"Good, good. Do you mind swinging your tail around? . . ."
Claire rolled her eyes and moved her tail so that he could reach it. He let go of her body and clung to it like a barnacle.
"You know, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing," Claire said quietly, "Well, maybe I would have saved the stegoceratopses . . . Would that mean that I wouldn't have had Lily? I know it's awful to say, but I wouldn't trade her for all the-"
Claire went limp.
"Okay, I lost my train of thought . . ."
"You in heat?"
"Yes," Claire slobbered, trying her best to keep her tongue in her mouth.
"Cool."
"Cool."
After a beat, they pounced upon each other.
***TSJWFEW***
After a magical afternoon, Claire and Owen rested outside in the grass. They watched the birds swooping down to catch flies in the meadow, darting across a lazy sky. Claire was lying on her side with Owen in her arms. He chewed on the end of a long blade of grass. Claire chewed on grass as well, but for a different reason. She swallowed the vegetation and sighed.
"God, I'm happy. I'm happy and I don't even know why."
Owen grinned.
"Could it have something to do with the last few hours?"
Claire grinned and pushed him away playfully.
"Smartass."
She stood up and stretched herself out like a cat. Giving a wide yawn, she clicked her beak a couple of times and started grazing. Owen leaned against her as she did, moving every time she took a step forward. Eventually, when Claire was full, she swallowed her last mouthful of grass and glanced at the portal machine that Ellie had built. Suddenly, she felt a whole lot less content.
"Owen . . . Do you get a funny feeling about this contraption?"
He looked at the futuristic door and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Kind of. But as long as Lily's safe, I can put up with this uneasiness."
Claire sighed.
"I guess we learned one thing from using it."
"What's that?"
"No one on Isla Nublar wants to harm our family."
"How can you tell?"
"If they did, they'd be wandering around aimlessly every time we opened the portal."
Owen stared into the distance.
"Do you suppose they've tried to come back? The people from Biosyn, I mean."
Claire nodded.
"Undoubtedly. But as long as they don't succeed, I'm happy."
Owen turned to the device. He walked around it slowly, holding his hands behind his back.
"I guess there's really no reason for us to be afraid of it. It'll be useful once Lily starts going to school . . ."
Claire nodded.
"I hope it isn't too difficult for her. She'll be the only herbivore in her class."
Owen ran his hand down the side of the doorway.
"You know, now that this is built, we ought to be using it. Maybe we should take a vacation before summer ends."
Claire smiled.
"I'm more of a winter vacation person, myself. My family used to go skiing all the time . . ."
Owen looked up excitedly.
"Let's do it! Let's go skiing! I'm sure Ellie can arrange something for us. We'll invite Karen, too."
Claire beamed.
"Yeah . . . Yeah, that could be fun. We'll have to find a sitter for Lily . . ."
"Done. I'll call Barry."
". . . and someone to fill in for me while I'm away . . ."
"Ellie can cover your job for a while."
Claire smiled.
"Perfect. This could work . . . Actually, it will work. We're going skiing! Woohoo!"
***TSJWFEW***
"I'm doing WHAT?!" Elkay barked.
"Keeping an eye on the gang while they ski," Ellie muttered as she packed a suitcase, "I'll be busy with other things."
Elkay tugged on her ears in distress.
"But I HATE skiing!"
Ellie handed her a toque.
"You don't actually have to ski with them. Just hover nearby and make sure nothing bad happens."
Elkay whined like a puppy.
"That's a terrible idea! I can't interact with those neurotypical nutjobs! I'm going to screw something up, I just know it!"
Ellie frowned.
"Don't be difficult. This will be a good learning experience."
"That's just code for 'it's going to suck'."
Ellie crossed her arms.
"Come on. Help me out, here. I can't do this alone."
Elkay gulped.
"It's not just about interacting with them. I wanted to spend time with you."
"Why?"
"I was planning on leaving soon. I want to take another hiatus from being myself in order to sort out some personal issues."
Ellie quirked her eyebrow.
"How long will you be gone?"
"Only two decades, maybe less."
Ellie laughed.
"You can't do that."
"You're not the boss of me!" Elkay snapped.
"No, I mean, you can't do it because you have a child on the way."
Elkay's ears went limp.
"Oh, right. I forgot about that. I don't suppose you-"
"No."
Elkay shrugged.
"Meh, I didn't think so. It was worth a shot, anyway, since you seem to adopt every adorable orphan who crosses your path."
"I'll take that as a compliment," a third voice chimed in.
A raptor with bright blue feathers strutted into the room. Ellie smiled and gave him a hug.
"Hello, Charlie. What are you doing here?"
"I don't need a reason to visit my mother," he chirped, "But in all seriousness, there's a nasty bug going around Raptor Valley, and we need your help."
Ellie nodded.
"I'll head down soon."
"Or you could just wave your hands and make it better," Elkay suggested.
"I'm not going to be lazy about it," Ellie retorted.
Elkay coughed noisily to conceal her next remark.
"ARCK! Worstgodever. ARCK!"
She cleared her throat.
"Hm. I guess I'm coming down with something, too."
Ellie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. You have a bad case of hypocr-itis."
***TSJWFEW***
Owen had told a teensy fib. He didn't really know how to ski, exactly. He had never been able to afford ski trips. Hell, he couldn't afford skis. Even so, he wanted to make Claire happy, and he figured he couldn't look more awkward than a hybrid dinosaur as far as winter sports were concerned.
Speaking of awkward, one of the dragons (the one without makeup) was sitting beside him in the van that was headed up to the lodge (which Ellie had built with magic or something). She wasn't a dragon now, but rather, a very unimpressive girl. She was playing games on her phone, utterly disinterested in the people around her. Owen cleared his throat and attempted to make pleasant conversation.
"So, how long have you been-"
She held up her finger.
"Not interested unless you're shirtless."
Owen blinked rapidly. He was glad that Claire was riding in the back of the truck, or else she would have pummeled the non-dragon to dust. Giving up on conversing with the girl, Owen turned to Lowery, who was in the passenger's seat.
"Are you a good skier?"
Lowery shook his head.
"I'm going to stay on the Bunny Hill with Karen and the boys. Gray is afraid of ski lifts, and Zach is trying to learn how to snowboard to impress a girl. I'm not actually going to ski, myself. I'll just watch."
Owen cocked his head.
"Shouldn't you try?"
Lowery laughed.
"That's a terrible idea."
Owen shrugged.
"I dunno. It can't be that hard, can it?"
Owen thought he saw the dragon-girl smiling. He didn't have time to think about it, because the van slowed to a stop. The driver undid his seatbelt.
"Alright. Everybody out."
Owen got out of the truck. He marched to the back to see how Claire had fared during the trip. He was alarmed to discover that she had icicles hanging from her horns. He hopped up on the truck and caressed her face.
"Oh, Clairebear . . ."
She laughed.
"Owen, I'm fine. I wanted to feel the wind in my face."
He brushed the frost from her crest.
"Aren't you cold?"
Claire smiled and grabbed her belly.
"Owen, with a body like this, I could survive an ice age."
Owen gulped.
"Claire, don't-"
She wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug.
"Owen, sometimes I think you get too protective. I can take a joke."
"Yeah, but when you make them, I worry."
Claire rolled her eyes.
"I thought you were supposed to be the relaxed one."
Over by the other car, Karen called out to Claire.
"Hey, slowpoke! Do you plan to get any skiing in before 2030?"
Claire hopped down from the truck.
"Watch it, Karen, or you'll be eating my snow!"
"And you'll be seeing a lot of my rear, Claire!"
"Only because I'll be kicking it!"
Claire laughed and turned to Owen.
"We're aggressive skiers."
"I noticed."
The driver carried their skis (courtesy of Ellie as well) up to the lodge. Owen followed, slightly nervous. He had assumed that skiing would be an easy feat, but what if he was wrong? It was too late to back down now.
"Hey," the dragon-girl said as she elbowed him, "Do you need any magical assistance? I can tell that you're not familiar with this whole 'skiing' thing."
Owen shook his head.
"I couldn't ask you to do that."
She smiled deviously.
"Let me at least get you to the top of the hill," she cooed, "Getting on the lift is the hard part."
"Really?" Owen asked uncertainly.
"Mhm. It's all smooth sailing after that . . ."
"Well, alright," Owen said, "I guess I could let you help me get up the mountain."
"Perfect."
***TSJWFEW***
Owen should have known better than to trust a dragon. When he reached the top of the hill, the steepness of the run nearly made him faint. He looked down the mountain with constricted pupils as Claire and Karen scooted up to him.
"This looks like a black diamond run," Claire speculated, "It's going to be difficult on my first try."
She lifted one of her stegoceratops-sized skis to emphasize her point. Owen smiled nervously and inched backwards.
"Yeah, maybe we'd better try something easier, like the Bunny Hill."
Karen snorted.
"Are you kidding? There's only a certain amount of time I get to spend away from the boys. I'm not going to waste it."
Claire nodded.
"Fair enough. I'll take it slow and see what happens."
Karen smiled.
"Are you sure you aren't just saying that to make yourself feel better about being a slowpoke?"
Claire scoffed.
"As if! Bring it on, sister!"
Owen went rigid as they zipped down the hill, leaving him behind. He stood staring at them with his knees shaking for a while, then gulped.
"It's probably not as steep as it looks . . ."
He inched forward. As soon as his skis began to slide across the snow, Owen leaned backwards in panic. He dug his poles into the ground, doing a very awkward backbend. Gathering up all of his courage, he pushed himself upright and took a deep breath.
"For Claire . . . For Claire . . . For Claire . . ."
His skis teetered over the ridge. He closed his eyes, leaned forward, and lifted his poles. After a few seconds, Owen found himself screaming at the top of his lungs. He spread out his arms and legs like a starfish as he sped down the run. He could see Claire getting closer and closer, until-
WHAM!
He crashed into her, and they tumbled down the mountain in a confused tangle. When Owen got his bearings, he realized that he was lying facedown in the snow. One of his skis was missing. It was wedged next to Claire, who had somehow gotten stuck between two trees. She kicked her legs and tried to wiggle free. As soon as she did, she wheeled around and glared at Owen.
"Owen, what the hell?!"
He gulped and tried to stand upright, but fell to his knees almost immediately.
"I'm really sorry, Claire. I didn't mean to."
She growled.
"What happened?"
Owen looked away in shame.
"I . . . I might have lied about some things . . . such as the fact that I know how to ski."
Claire cocked her head.
"What?"
Owen kicked off his remaining ski and stood up clumsily.
"The truth is, I've never been skiing. Not once."
Claire gave him a puzzled look.
"Didn't your par-"
Catching herself, Claire cleared her throat and shook the snow from her plates.
"You know what? It's okay. I'll teach you."
Owen blinked.
"Teach me?"
Claire nodded.
"Sure, why not?"
Owen twisted his mouth.
"Well, I don't want to ruin your vacation."
Claire laughed gently.
"Owen, the only way you could ruin this vacation is if you weren't a part of it."
He shuffled his feet.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive," Claire affirmed, "By the end of today, you'll be an expert."
***TSJWFEW***
Elkay watched Zach and Gray make their way down the hill, yawning with boredom. She wanted to hang out in the lodge, but Ellie would have none of it. She claimed that spending time with the Mitchell family would be somehow beneficial. Untrue. Elkay was absolutely certain that she'd screw something up. She wasn't exactly tuned in to people's sensitivities.
She lifted her head as Lowery cheered at the bottom of the hill. He was wearing a trapper hat and mittens.
"Whoo! Go, Gray, go! That was even better than last time!"
Elkay rolled her eyes.
"Do you ever get tired of being a dork?" she called out.
Before Lowery could answer, Karen zoomed down the hill and came to a stop in front of him, kicking up a cloud of snow. She lifted her goggles and gave him a kiss.
"Hey!"
Lowery smiled.
"Hey. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Claire?"
Karen shrugged.
"I lost her along the way. I figured I'd check on you while I wait for her to move her fat ass down the slope."
Elkay snorted.
"I'm telling her you said that . . ."
Karen frowned.
"Do you have to be here?"
Elkay nodded.
"Ellie's forcing me. To be honest, I'd rather staple one of my tongues to a tree."
Lowery offered Karen a hot chocolate, but she shook her head, engaged in the dragon's conversation.
"Some exercise would do a world of good for someone as lazy as you."
Elkay growled.
"I hope you have a heart attack!"
"Well, that's not very nice," Karen remarked, "Especially coming from a sarcastic, good-for-nothing dragon who can't even take the time to supervise my kids."
Elkay rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please. They're doing fine. It's not them I'd be worried about, anyway. You shouldn't be exerting yourself while you're pregnant, moron!"
With this, Lowery spat out his hot chocolate, speckling the snow with brown dots. Zach and Gray wheeled around, staring at their mother with wide eyes. Karen looked mortified. After a beat, Elkay covered her mouth.
"You haven't told them yet . . ."
Karen started shaking.
"You . . . How did- I mean-"
She threw her poles to the ground.
"Where do you get off, giving out personal information like that?"
Elkay put her hands on her hips.
"Don't be stupid. You'd have had to tell Lowery sooner or later."
They stared at Lowery, who looked like his mind had just imploded. His eye twitched, and he made a quiet wheezing noise.
"You . . . You're . . ."
Karen looked down.
"Yes, I'm pregnant. I was going to tell you soon, I swear."
Lowery blinked several times.
". . . Is it mine?"
Karen exhaled noisily.
"Yes, Lowery. Of course it is."
He squeaked.
"Oh. Good. Great. Okay."
He started shuffling backwards.
"So, um, I'm just going to . . ."
He fainted. Elkay looked down at him neutrally.
"Hm."
Zach and Gray made their way towards Karen slowly.
"Mom? . . ." Gray prompted.
Karen took a deep breath.
"You're going to have a baby brother or sister. I wish you could have found out in a more . . . appropriate way, but now you know. It's no big deal. I've had two kids, and I can handle one more."
Elkay lifted her finger.
"Technically, you only gave birth once, since Zach is adopted."
His jaw dropped.
"I'm what?!"
Elkay took a deep breath.
"Shit . . ."
***TSJWFEW***
Claire held Owen by the shoulders, keeping his skis between hers. She guided him along gently, speaking in a calm voice.
"Alright, follow what I'm doing. You have to go forward and turn . . . forward and turn . . ."
He lost his balance. Claire kept him from falling.
"I've got you, I've got you. Don't panic. If you need to go slowly, just make a triangle with your skis."
Owen pulled his heels in.
"The other way," she clarified.
Owen gulped and pointed his toes inwards.
"Can't I just go down the hill like this?" he asked.
"You can, but it will be hell on your legs. Don't be afraid to try it my way."
Owen frowned.
"I'm not afraid."
"So, you'd be alright if I let go, then?"
Claire lifted her front feet, releasing Owen. He slid forward, making a high-pitched squeaking sound. Claire couldn't help but laugh at his failed attempts to stop himself. Finally, he fell on his side. He turned around and glared at his wife.
"You're loving this, aren't you?"
***TSJWFEW***
"There's nothing wrong with being adopted," Karen said in a pleading voice, "You're still my son."
Zach shook his head.
"I can't believe you lied to me!"
"I didn't lie!" Karen snapped, "We're family. It doesn't matter where you came from."
"Who are my real parents?"
"No one. I'm your mother."
"Not biologically."
Gray's lip quivered.
"Does this mean we aren't brothers?"
Karen bit her lip.
"Oh, sweetheart . . ."
Zach rolled his eyes as Karen gave Gray a hug.
"It's no wonder he's your favorite . . ."
Karen's jaw dropped.
"ZACH! I don't have a favorite child!"
He glowered bitterly.
"Then why do you always coddle him like a baby?"
"Because he needs special attention."
"Confirmed for ASD!" Elkay declared from where she was fanning an unconscious Lowery.
"SHUT UP!" everyone shouted at once.
Karen turned back to Zach and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Look, baby, just because you're not technically related to me doesn't mean that you aren't my son. I love you just as much as Gray. You're a part of this family."
He shrugged her off.
"Don't touch me."
Karen looked down.
"If you want to talk about this privately, we can-"
He shook his head.
"I want to be alone. Don't follow me."
Karen gulped as he pulled his feet away from his snowboard and marched into the trees. She turned to Gray, who had begun to cry, and rocked him back and forth in her arms.
"Shhh. It's okay. We'll sort this out, I promise."
Elkay pretended not to notice the way Karen was glaring at her.
***TSJWFEW***
Claire wagged her tail, flattening the snow behind her.
"That's it, that's it. Come to me."
Owen scooted across the snow very, very slowly. He was going so slow, in fact, that the snow beneath his skis was growling. Claire opened her arms comfortingly.
"Lean forward, and don't be afraid to fall. You can go a little faster."
"Is it safe?" Owen squeaked.
"Of course."
Owen leaned forward a fraction of an inch. Claire sighed in exasperation.
"Faster, Owen."
"I can't."
"You can. Pretend there's a dinosaur chasing you."
"But there isn't."
"If you take much longer, that will change."
Owen stopped himself and sighed.
"This is hopeless, Claire. Why don't you just ski down, and I'll walk."
Claire shook her head.
"I'm not leaving you, Owen."
He pouted.
"I'm not going to be able to move any faster than this."
Claire rubbed her chin.
"Tell you what: if you can ski down to where I am right now, we'll have sex tonight."
Owen snorted.
"That's not going to work, Claire."
"I'm just trying to motivate you."
"Well, you're wasting your-"
Claire smiled triumphantly as he bumped into her belly. He had subconsciously moved towards her. Owen hummed, then stepped back.
"Maybe you're onto something . . ."
***TSJWFEW***
Once Gray was feeling better, Karen jogged into the woods to find Zach. Her ski boots made it hard to move quickly, but luckily for her, he wasn't too far away. He was sitting at the base of a tree with his arms around his knees. Karen was alarmed to see that he was crying, something that didn't happen often.
"Zach?"
He whipped around angrily.
"Go away! I said I wanted to be alone!"
Karen ignored his request and sat down beside him. He tried to shake her away as she pulled him close, but she refused to let go. Gradually, he stopped fighting, and let himself cry into her shoulder.
"It's okay, baby. It's okay. This is my fault. I should have told you."
Zach sniffed loudly, then started shaking again.
"I had trouble getting pregnant, and the doctors recommended that I consider other options. I was planning to tell you when you were older, but then I had Gray, and I didn't want to make you feel like you were different."
Zach coughed.
"You should have told me anyway."
"I know," Karen whispered, "It was just so hard . . . None of that matters, though. We've always been family, and we'll continue to be family forever and ever."
"Does this change our custody?" Zach whimpered.
"Don't worry about that right now," Karen muttered, "That's not important. I just need to know that you're okay."
"I'm not."
"How can I fix this?"
"You can't."
Karen swallowed the lump in her throat. She turned her head as she heard someone approaching her rapidly. The sound of crunching snow grew louder, and Lowery became visible through the trees. Karen patted Zach's shoulder and ran over to him. Her eyes went wide as he fell forward on one knee.
"Karen, I know this is kind of out of nowhere, but I think we should get married. If we're going to have a baby together, I don't want to seem like I'm half-assing it."
He pulled a small, plastic bubble out of his pocket.
"So . . . Will you marry me?"
Karen examined the cheap-looking receptacle he was holding.
"What's that?"
"A ring," Lowery said, "I got it from the gumball machine. It took me nineteen tries."
Karen sighed.
"I appreciate the thought, but I don't know if I can accept this right now."
Lowery gulped.
"Why not?"
"You're important to me, Lowery, but Zach and Gray are my life. They'd have to agree to it too, and only after we've sorted out our own problems."
Lowery put the ring back in his pocket.
"I understand. I'll . . . I'll give you some time."
He shuffled back the way he came, meeting up with Elkay, who was chewing on several pieces of gum. She blew a large bubble and said something to him, holding up a coat hanger. After a beat, he picked up a branch and started beating the living shit out of her. She skittered through the snow, holding her hands over her rear as Lowery whacked her. When they were gone, Karen turned back to Zach, who was no longer crying.
"Sweetheart . . ."
"You should marry him. He likes you."
Karen shook her head.
"Let's not talk about that right now. I need to know that you're okay."
Zach took a deep breath.
"I'm fine. I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't think you'd lie about something that important."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready for things to change."
"But they haven't changed. Not really," Zach reasoned, "I mean, you still raised me, and it's not like anything is different from before. I just discovered something that was true all along."
Karen sighed.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
"Me too, but I guess it's good that I found out at all."
"I should have told you . . ."
Zach shook his head.
"Doesn't matter. What's done is done. Unless you're keeping other secrets from me . . ."
Karen thought about it.
"No, nothing important."
Zach nodded.
"To make us even, I should probably tell you that I got an F in Biology."
Karen's eyes went wide.
"What?!"
Zach raised his eyebrow.
"My secret isn't as damaging as yours, so I wouldn't complain if I were you."
Karen's eye twitched.
"You . . . Oh, you're sneaky. But I'll let it go, just this once. It's more important that we enjoy this trip . . . as a family."
Zach gave a half-smile.
"As a family."
They made their way back to the Bunny Hill just in time to see Claire and Owen speeding down the mountain. Claire was ahead of Owen, and seemed to be leading the way. Every time she changed direction, she'd shout out a very strange comment.
"And we can use the shower!"
"How long?"
Claire changed direction.
"As long as you want."
Owen pursued her.
"What else?"
"I won't make you do the microscope thing."
Owen sped up.
"Sounds good. More?"
"I'll let you use a variation of the word 'tubby'."
"I'm liking this. And?"
"I'll moo!"
"Awesome. Anything else?"
Claire smiled as he bumped into her belly.
"Nope. We're at the bottom of the hill."
Owen looked around.
"Oh. That was fast."
Claire smiled and turned to Karen.
"Sorry I'm late. We ran into a few . . . issues."
"Same here," Karen said, "But I think we've solved most of them for now."
Claire snuffed happily.
"Good. Wanna go down the mountain again?"
Karen sighed.
"No, I don't think so. I'd better stay here and spend time with the boys."
Owen nudged Claire.
"We should go again."
Claire quirked an eyebrow.
"Are you saying that because you want me to make more promises?"
Owen chuckled.
"Maybe . . ."
Claire grinned mischievously.
"Alright. I guess we could go. If Karen is okay with it, that is . . ."
Karen smiled pleasantly.
"Sure. You two have fun. We can meet at the lodge later."
As Claire and Owen made their way towards the lift, Zach jogged up to Karen.
"Does Aunt Claire know I'm adopted?"
Karen giggled.
"Sweetheart, your aunt doesn't even know how old you are."
From a nearby tree, Elkay called out to them.
"Can you tell me how old he is? I want it to be canon."
Karen frowned.
"How did you get up there?"
"Lowery chased me."
Karen turned to Zach.
"I know this day has been rough for you, but at the very least, you can be happy that you aren't her."
Zach watched as Elkay fell out of the tree, landing in a large snow bank.
"Yeah, I think you might have a point, there."
They laughed and made their way over to where they had left their equipment. After that, they continued to ski.
Together.