Claire moaned as a gentle knocking woke her from her slumber. She had been dreaming about grazing again, which tended to be one of her more serene dreamscapes. Although she was mildly upset that she had been interrupted, she forced herself to wake up fully. She lifted her head and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, focusing on the grainy scene in front of her. With a drowsy yawn, she stepped down from the bed, pulling the loose half of the blanket over Owen, who shifted a little. She lumbered across the room and opened the door as the knocking grew more frantic.

"Lily?"

Her daughter was sitting in the hall with her stuffed cow cradled tenderly in her arms. She looked up at her mother with big eyes.

"I had a bad dream."

Claire frowned sadly and picked her up.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Was it the one with the monkey again?"

Lily nodded and buried her face in Claire's chest.

"Oh, honey," Claire whispered, "It's okay. Let me tuck you in."

She carried Lily back to her room and placed her on the bed. Lily chewed on her fist and looked up at Claire innocently.

"Ma . . ."

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here," she cooed.

Claire turned on Lily's nightlight and placed the covers over her shoulders. She pulled them tighter when she saw that the stuffed cow was exposed.

"There," she said with a satisfied smile, "Is Clarence feeling okay?"

Lily nodded, not taking her eyes off of Claire.

"Alright, sweetheart. I'm going back to bed."

Lily caught her by the beak before she could turn away. Claire sighed.

"Sweetheart . . ."

"Don't go, Mama. I'm scared."

Claire smiled.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, darling."

Lily pulled Claire closer, whimpering softly.

"Mommy, what's in the dark?"

"Nothing. You're safe, Lily."

"What if the monsters are hiding in the dark?" she persisted.

Claire chuckled.

"Lily, your mother can see perfectly. There are no monsters."

Claire turned to leave once again, but Lily grabbed her arm.

"Mommy . . ."

Claire sighed in defeat and climbed up on Lily's bed. She stroked her frill gently as she snuggled back into her covers: satisfied, now that she had prevented her mother from leaving.

"You know I'd never let anything happen to you, Lily," Claire said seriously, "As long as I'm around, nothing will ever harm you."

"But will you be around forever?"

Claire lifted Lily's chin.

"Yes. Absolutely. I'd never, ever leave you."

Lily closed her eyes.

"I know you'll always be with me. You're just like everyone else. They're here, Momma. All the time."

"Who?"

"The others. I can see them when I'm playing in the meadow. They're always watching you."

Claire frowned softly.

"Lily . . . What are you talking about?"

"Our family. They talk to me, sometimes. They're very nice. Especially Flower. She likes to play by the brook."

Claire gulped.

"Okay, sweetie. It's time for bed. Do you think you can fall asleep?"

Lily nodded.

"Good. Close your eyes and try to relax."

Lily squeezed her stuffed cow tightly. She closed her eyes, but it wasn't long before they were open again.

"Momma?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Do you see them, too?"

Claire took a deep, shaky breath.

". . . No. Not anymore. But I can feel them. I know they're never truly gone."

Lily cocked her head.

"Can you hear them?"

"No, I can't hear them either," Claire sighed.

"They say nice things about you."

Claire smiled.

"What kind of nice things?"

"They say that you're a good mother and that you've done very well for yourself. They say that it isn't your fault, and that they forgive you."

Claire felt her heart quiver.

"They say all that?" she whispered.

Lily nodded.

"Mhm. All the time. They don't like it when you act sad, because they want you to be happy. They must really like you."

"I can't imagine why . . ."

Claire fell silent as she pondered the meaning behind her own words, but she quickly snapped out of her trance and smiled down at her daughter.

"Look at me, rambling on and on when you should be sleeping! Close your eyes, baby, and don't be afraid of the dark. I promise, nothing will ever happen to you."

Lily smiled.

"I love you, Mama."

Claire nuzzled her gently.

"I love you too, Lily. I love you more than anything in the world."

She let Lily sink into her pillow. Pulling the cover over her shoulders for the last time, Claire kissed her forehead. Instead of leaving right away, she watched Lily fall asleep. Gradually, her breathing became even, and she snored very gently. Claire smiled and kissed her again, then tiptoed back to her own room. She had barely moved five paces when she noticed Owen leaning against the wall.

"Hey."

"Hey," Claire replied with surprise, "Why are you up?"

"It's a lot colder when you're gone. How's Lily?"

"She's fine. She had the nightmare again."

"Poor girl. Is she sleeping better now?"

"Yes. I think she's doing okay."

Owen smiled pensively and put his hand on Claire's frill. He let it slide down tenderly, his fingers tracing every scale as they passed. Claire wondered what he was thinking. Although Owen would defend his friends and family at the drop of a hat, he never seemed to be able to express his own thoughts vocally. He was surprisingly shy in that way. Sometimes, he would open up when he was talking to Claire in a private setting. She wondered if he did it with anyone else. No, he wouldn't, would he? She knew him better than that.

Owen nodded towards their room.

"We'd better get some sleep, too."

"I agree."

They got into bed together, and fell asleep almost immediately.

***TSJWFEW***

Claire was vacuuming when Lily came waddling up to her with a request. She had always been slightly nervous around noisy appliances, so Claire turned it off right away. She smiled down at her daughter and nudged her with her tail.

"Hey, baby girl. What's up?"

"Do we have any pictures of you when you were young?" Lily squeaked.

"Why do you need them?" Claire asked.

"It's for school. Teacher says we gotta talk about someone who inspires us."

Claire gave a wide grin.

"Oh, Lily! That's so sweet of you. Yeah, I think we have a photo album around here somewhere . . ."

She stepped across the kitchen and reached up to a shelf above the fridge. Pulling down an old book, Claire walked over to the family room and sat down on the couch. Lily hopped up beside her, placing her hands on her shoulder for support. Claire blew a layer of dust away from the cover and smiled.

"Here we go, there should be-"

As soon as Claire opened the book, she realized how very stupid she was. There were pictures of her, alright, but what she had forgotten was that before the age of thirty, she had been a human being. Lily stared at the photos with interest.

"I don't see any pictures of you . . . Is that Aunt Karen?"

Claire nodded as Lily pointed to a picture of Claire and Karen at a Christmas party.

"Yeah, that's her," Claire said evasively, "This used to be her album. You know what? I just remembered, there's a-"

"Who's that?"

Claire felt her heart sink into the floor as Lily pointed to a picture of her as a teenager. She bit her lower beak and closed the book nervously.

"That's . . . Clarice. My other sister."

"You have another sister?"

"Yes . . . No. She died a few years ago."

Lily shrunk away and pouted.

"That's so sad . . ."

Claire shook her head quickly.

"No, sweetie, no. It's not sad. I'm very happy with . . . I mean . . ."

She broke off awkwardly. Standing up, she ran to the kitchen and placed the photo album back on its shelf. Lily stared at her in confusion.

"Look, baby, I'll get you some pictures, okay?" Claire affirmed brightly, "I just need to borrow some from your Aunt Karen."

Claire made a mental note to ask Ellie to conjure up some fake photos, or else excuse Lily from that portion of the assignment. Knowing Ellie, the latter option was preferable, since it didn't involve directly deceiving anyone . . . "Directly" being the key word.

"Mommy?"

Claire gulped and looked down at Lily.

"Yes, darling?"

"If you're sad about Clarice, you can tell me."

Claire shook her head slowly.

"I'm not sad about losing her, Lily. Trust me, it was-"

Claire realized that ending her sentence with "for the best" didn't make a whole lot of sense within the context she had given Lily. She wiggled her toes and exhaled.

". . . It was a long time ago, and I've moved on. Okay?"

Lily nodded brightly.

"Okay. It's kind of funny how both of your sisters were twolegs. How does that work, exactly?"

Claire felt her stomach twist. The dreaded question had finally arrived. She struggled to come up with a reasonable answer, calling back every excuse she had come up with over the years. Somehow, she couldn't recall the exact wording of the speech she had prepared.

"Uh . . . Um . . . You see, genetics-"

She waved her front foot vaguely.

"And, um, the alleles of . . . um . . . dinosaurs . . ."

Claire perked up as Owen entered the room.

"Darling, explain to Lily how our family works."

Owen blinked.

"What?"

She gave him a meaningful stare.

". . . Oh."

He knelt down in front of Lily.

"You see, Lily, there are lots and lots of sentient animals on this earth. There are humans, raptors, octopi . . . You know: civilized species. Your mother is a stegoceratops, and I'm a human."

Lily blinked.

"Isn't a human a different kind of stegoceratops?"

Owen gulped.

"Well . . . no. Not exactly. See, you and your mother are very special. You're the last of your kind. I'm sure if there were more of you running around, it would be acceptable to . . ."

Lily waited for him to finish his sentence. Owen took a deep breath and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Lily, has anyone been teasing you at school?"

"Kind of," she hummed, "I'm different from everyone else. I can talk, but the dinosaurs that eat plants don't usually talk, do they?"

Owen shook his head.

"No, they don't."

Lily scratched her head.

"Why am I different?"

Owen struggled to find an explanation. Claire exhaled and took his place.

"Lily, we're not livestock. There's a difference between the dinosaurs you see on Isla Nublar and the ones that come to visit. Aunt Vivian and Uncle Vic are plant-eating people-dinosaurs, just like us. We can talk, we can solve problems, and we're generally intelligent."

"Why?"

"We're hybrids, Lily."

She pulled her head back in puzzlement.

"What does that mean?"

Claire smiled.

"It means we're many things at once. See, cows and horses and pigs will always be a single animal. They're not smart enough to recognize themselves in a mirror like intelligent creatures. It's because they're stuck being one thing. We're more . . . flexible."

Lily cocked her head.

"Flexible?"

Claire smiled.

"Mhm. I'm a wife, a mother, and a working woman. Your father is a motorcyclist and a surprisingly good cook when he needs to be. What separates us from the animals is our ability to be two things at once. In fact, being two things adds up to us being one thing: ourselves. We're unique, and that's something to be proud of."

Lily grinned.

"I think I understand!"

Claire smiled and gave her a hug.

"Good girl. You're a lot smarter than your mother, you know. It took me a long time to figure things out."

As Claire glanced to the side, Owen gave her a knowing smile. She returned it, then gave Lily a noogie.

"Alright, you little munchkin. Show me this project of yours. I'll tell you anything you need to know."

Mostly.