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poeticandvaguelysweet · 6 years

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#233 - Abandonment

ANON: Owen and Claire get into an argument and one of them leaves to blow off steam but Maisie gets upset

ANON: love to read your take on Maisie calling Owen and Claire, dad and mom for the first time

I honestly cannot hold onto fics that long. As soon as they’re done I need to give them to you. It’s killing me.

AO3

ABANDONMENT

The skies had rumbled before. Angry clouds rolling over the other as they shattered above house and home, frightening children in their beds. Owen’s voice, when he was mad, rumbled, crackling overhead as it left the trailer and loomed over the young girl.

She hadn’t heard two people fighting before.

Mr Mills had raised his voice once or twice, but that was almost a long time ago now. He had only ever done it in frustration towards her, irritated that she was asking simple questions or invading his space. Never had she heard him yell at another person who was roaring back. It wasn’t as mad as this, as angry and hateful as their words muffled inside the tin shell, forgetful of Maisie playing in the giant tree beside the half-finished cabin. Mr Mills was nothing compared to her newfound parents, her careers yelling at each other so loudly she could hear them behind closed doors.

She jumped when Claire burst out of the trailer, door hitting the side of their mobile home with a bang that chased up her spine in cold chills. Maisie dropped from the tree, watching as Claire marched across the grass a few steps, Owen’s head appearing in the doorway, calling to her before she turned back him. ‘Fuck you, Owen!’ She yelled, cheeks red and eyes blazing, every inch of her radiating irritation. Maisie stood still not drawing attention to herself as she watched cool, calm and collected Claire lose it.

‘If it bothers you so much, just go!’ He yelled back, dismissive, words spitting as Maisie felt her heart stop. No. She didn’t want Claire to go anywhere, her eyes darting between the two adults as she opened her mouth, wanting to say something but unsure of what.

‘I’m going!’ Claire retorted as he turned his back before she finished, trailer door slamming shut behind him. ‘Don’t expect me to come back!’ She taunted, getting in the final word before she turned and stalked towards her car. Maisie couldn’t breathe, could barely move until she saw the flash of the Mercedes unlocking.

She pushed forward, forcing her legs to move as her knees threatened to give in. ‘No!’ Maisie warbled, ‘Don’t go!’ But her voice wasn’t loud enough to reach Claire, the woman barely batting an eyelash, her back to the girl. ‘He’s sorry.’ She whispered, unable to make her voice any louder than it was. ‘He didn’t mean it!’ She apologised for Owen, trying to make good on the adult situation that had exploded in front of her. She was sure it was Owen’s fault. He was the one who said go, he was the one who needed to apologise and, Maisie could make sure he did that.

Claire couldn’t leave. Everyone left Maisie in one way or another. The idea of a mother, father and a normal childhood. Iris went. Grandfather died. Even the kindness Mr Mills used to bestow upon her left. The childish innocence she had disappeared with the revelation that she wasn’t just like everyone else, that something born of heartbreak made her an abomination. She didn’t want Claire to leave because she had hung all her hopes on that woman. Maisie had pressed promises into the space between Claire’s fingers and each strand of her hair while the night moved past her, wide awake as she struggled with nightmares.

She had attached herself to Claire, bound her life with hers and it was nowhere near fair that the woman was leaving.

She tripped when the engine started, unable to keep her feet under her body as the car door slammed shut. Maisie fell to the grass; shoe caught on a sturdy vine. Her knees began to sting, the telltale sign that she had scrapped them as she watched Claire’s car pull away from their cabin site and disappear down the dirt road.

[…]

Inside the trailer, Owen was trying to calm himself down. His fists clenched, fingers rolled into a tight grip as he refrained from punching the wall. She had a bad habit of driving him insane. Her fight or flight twisting itself into a morbid want to abandon all things right for her. Claire wasn’t coping. He knew it, saw the signs but chose not to handle it before things exploded.

She’d take a few days, calm down and come back with a solution. She always did. If not, Owen would reach for her, compromise or bend to her original wants. In the centre sat his cabin and van. They hadn’t talked about it. Just picked up life in the backwoods and carried on. It turned itself into a problem.

‘This might work for you, but it doesn’t work for us! For her. She needs something stable and social. She’s been living on her own in a manor her whole fucking life, Owen. She needs to see more than the god damn woods.’

Owen was taking deep breaths through his mouth, trying to loosen the tension in his neck when he heard it. The howl was human, unbearably distraught as it tore through a young throat. It didn’t take him long to figure out who was making the noise on their vacant property as he flew out of the trailer to find Maisie sitting in the middle of the yard, legs tucked under her body, clothes streaked with dirt as her hands fisted mounds of earth.

They had seen her upset and had nursed nightmares and daytime fears. This was different; this was Maisie with as much heartbreak as her chest could muster. She was a little girl falling apart. ‘Hey, hey, hey, what happened?’ He was by her side in a second flat, trying to untangle her fingers from the grass with one hand as the other scooped her into his lap.

She didn’t look hurt. There was a graze on her knee, but in the weeks that they had her free and wild in the mountains around Owen’s property, she had braved much worse.

‘You’re okay, Maisie.’ She was shaking her head, unable to speak as her chest rose and fell in small movements, her lungs not allowing her to breathe in more than an inch at a time. ‘Breathe, kid.’ He was trying to encourage, taking deep breaths himself as he focused on the softness of his touch, the way he held her like she was the most precious thing he ever had. She had filled that position right beside Claire in a matter of weeks. He wanted what was best for her, but neither adult could agree on what that was.

‘Maisie,’ his voice was stern as he sat her up, bending his head to meet his green eyes with her wet brown. She hadn’t stopped crying, tears falling hard and fast as she sobbed like the world was ending. ‘You need to stop this.’ He was concerned, watching her chest catch as her cries continued. She was only going to make herself sick.

She shook her head, hand lifting curled fingers to her lips as she pulled on her chin another howl ripping her throat into ribbons as he couldn’t help but get upset himself. ‘My m-mom.’ She cried, finally getting words past her cries as her head continued to move from side to side, gaze falling on the dirt path that led back to town. ‘Gone.’

Owen felt his shoulders relax. His tension shifted no longer concerned about his argument with Claire but the wellbeing of the girl in his lap. Something in his head stopped on mom and the childish way the word bubbled from her throat. It shouldn’t have been the way this happened. Claire should have been there when Maisie chose to anoint her with the title. She should not have said it under extreme duress, but happy giggles as they surprisingly tickled it out of her. ‘Oh, Mais, Claire will come back. She’s just gone for a drive.’ He promised.

She surprised him when her small hand hit him on the shoulder, pushing him with all her strength. ‘You told her to go!’ She screamed, voice shaking as a rage-filled her tear soaked eyes. ‘Just like Mr Mills, you sent her away!’ He let her go, his heart shattering as Maisie found the strength to scamper away from him, only stopping at a few feet.

He hadn’t been that bad. He knew it. Knew that Claire always needed a breather to blow off steam before resolving their problems. Maisie didn’t know what the fought about, only heard muffled words. He had been painted as the bad guy. In an instant, she deflated him as he watched the girl curl in on herself, cries growing louder. They shouldn’t have been arguing near her in the first place. Should have waited until the weekend Karen had scheduled to come to visit, using her sister to usher the girl out of their presence so they could have at each other’s throats in peace.

He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t a father, had barely been a guardian to the girl since they got her. Hell, he didn’t even know how they still had her or why in their right minds Claire insisted on keeping her. He loved Maisie. Nothing would change that now. Owen just wasn’t too sure how exactly they ended up being the right kind of people to keep her. The nightmares were one thing. He considered himself an expert in PTSD … especially the dinosaur related type. Maybe it was better to rehabilitate her and then release the girl to a better livelihood. But, she had called Claire mom, and that had just about solidified them as hers forever.

Maisie made herself sick, her hyperventilated crying too much for her small body as her stomach expelled itself onto the grass.

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ His chest ached, Owen desperate to reach for her but scared of the backlash she had already proven she was capable of. It took ten seconds for Maisie to recover, realising that she needed him before she shuffled over and curled into his arms. ‘She’s coming back, I promise.’ Maisie cried against his shoulder, a mix of her upset emotions and stomach soaking his shirt.

He lifted her, one arm under her bent knees while the other supported her back, carrying her back inside the trailer where she would be more comfortable. She threw up again, Owen managing to fetch a bucket just in time as Maisie leaned over the end of the bed, her face a little green.

Despite how much her body was telling her to stop crying, she couldn’t. Owen had failed when he handed her a glass of water. He didn’t want her to dehydrate herself, leaving her head aching and her face sore. Her hands shook as she held the glass, gulping it down before she handed it back to him with wide, expectant eyes. The water only brought on more tears, and when she emptied it into the bucket five minutes later, he knew they had a problem.

‘I want Claire.’ Maisie hiccoughed between her cries when he asked her what would make this better. He was hoping it would be a Twinkie stashed in the back of the cupboard. They had a large stash of confectionary that she could choose from, but instead, she wanted the one thing he was hesitant to give her.

He called Claire anyway, panic twisting in his fingers as he watched Maisie curl in on herself again. She had tangled herself in the blankets; her arms wrapped tight around Claire’s pillow as he listened to the dial tone over and over. He called her three times before he realised she wasn’t going to answer. Instead, he sent a text hoping the Bluetooth in her car would read it aloud.

[…]

Everything stopped when her car spoke. ‘New text message from Owen. Something is wrong with Maisie. You need to come back.’ It read in its robotic voice, pitch diving up and down across the words as Claire hit the breaks and turned her car around.

She had conjured up the worst possible scenarios on her return to the cabin; sure she would arrive to find the girl bleeding, unconscious or gone altogether. The property was still when she arrived, her anxiety making it quiet as she approached the trailer and stepped inside. ‘Is everything okay?’ She asked, peering into the space as she sought out the man and girl she had left there.

‘Claire?!’ Maisie’s voice croaked, trying for a squeak but her throat was too sore. She didn’t see the girl she moved so fast, flinging herself off the edge of the queen sized bed as arms and legs wrapped themselves around Claire with a vice-like grip. She wrapped her arms around the girl in response, eyes squeezing closed as she tightened her hold, matching the pressure the child was supplying.

‘Are you alright?’ She asked, pulling her head back to try and see Maisie’s face, her hand stroking through the girl’s damp hair. Owen was sitting on the edge of the bed, his body not catching her attention until he moved, trying to slide past her with a bucket of sick. ‘Were you sick, baby?’ Claire asked, hand sliding from Maisie’s head, down her back and back up again before her fingers found her forehead checking the girl’s temperature. Maisie nodded. ‘You’re a little warm.’ She didn’t know what was warm or too hot with just her hands, mental itinerary double checking what they had in the first aid kit in the trailer. Mostly bandages for building accidents.

She felt Maisie tense. ‘Bucket,’ Claire called for Owen, instinct warning her as she felt the man at her back the exact second Maisie tilted in her arms. She threw up again, not missing the container Owen was holding as Claire kept a firm hold on the girl, stopping her from falling.

Concern climbed up her spine, nesting itself between her temples as she frowned down at Maisie in her arms. Resettling herself, Maisie started to cry again, biting on her knuckle as she pressed her cheek to Claire’s chest, tears falling on her skin. ‘You’re alright.’ Claire soothed, trying to shuffle around the small space as she soaked a cloth in the kitchenette before applying it to Maisie’s forehead. Owen stayed out of her way, watching Claire’s movement, careful not to get a purposeful elbow to the gut as she passed. ‘What happened?’ She asked, sitting with Maisie on the edge of the bed, girl wrapped around her torso and refusing to let go.

‘I thought you weren’t never gonna come back.’ Maisie warbled, tears seeping back into her words as her hands locked tighter between Claire’s shoulder blades. She thought there was still a chance that was going to happen, but if she anchored herself to Claire, there would be no way they could tear her away. ‘I called out to you.’ She hiccoughed, fingers in her mouth, playing with her teeth. ‘But you didn’t listen.’ Her sobs started again, Claire quick to soothe her as she rocked the girl slightly promising it was all in the past. She was there now.

‘I didn’t hear you, sweetheart.’ She apologised, hand taking a large circle across Maisie’s back as she kissed the top of the girl’s head, wishing they had a bath they could put her in. Another mental strike against trailer life.

Owen had disappeared, making himself scarce, the bucket with him while Claire made herself comfortable in the centre of the bed, Maisie lying directly on top of her, grip not letting go. ‘I don’t feel well.’ Her words wobbled, mouth drew into a pout as Claire felt the girl’s chin shake against her chest.

‘I bet you don’t.’ She rubbed at Maisie’s back with two hands now, slow and sure movements. ‘Why don’t you close your eyes, okay? I’m right here. I’ve got you, baby.’ She reassured the girl, closing her own eyes at the same time, back propped up with pillows as she held the girl like she was an ailing infant.

They were quiet, Maisie’s breathing evening out as it returned to a regular pattern, her deep breaths following Claire’s. ‘Am I too much?’ Maisie asked, sniffling as she turned her head, nose dragging across Claire’s chest. Claire felt her breath catch, heart aching that the girl felt the need to ask such a question. She felt overwhelmed at times, unsure of the bond and relationship she was forming with the girl. She knew that she was taking on the parental role, but Claire had nothing to prepare her for that, no guidance other than Owen who’s view on parenting was somewhat different from hers. ‘I can be a good girl, Mama.’ Her heart shattered, officially breaking apart and spitting itself out into the atmosphere. She was too much sometimes. Her desperate need to feel loved, wanted and needed was overbearing. Claire didn’t know what to do with it. Ultimately, it was sweet, precious, still somewhat heartbreaking to hear the girl required constant reassurance that she was enough for them. They were committing themselves to her and were not planning on looking back. She was theirs.

Hearing her plead for an opportunity to stay, calling Claire mama in the process was too much. She felt the tears prick her eyes but refused to let them be anything more than that. She couldn’t cry and wouldn’t, not at this moment.

‘Oh Maisie,’ she sighed. ‘You’re perfect.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m broken,’ she admitted causing Claire’s chest to further clench. ‘And needy.’

Claire didn’t even know where she had picked up the word. They certainly hadn’t said it, nor eluded to it in or out of Maisie’s presence. ‘It’s okay to need people.’ She couldn’t see her face, hands still running up and down her back as Maisie sighed heavily. ‘A little or a lot, you can need me. I don’t mind.’ She waited for a beat. ‘Mama’s are there to be needed.’ She used the girl’s word, taking on the title softly as she pressed a kiss to Maisie’s temple. ‘You don’t need to get this upset about it, Mais. Okay?’ The girl nodded. ‘I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.’

Maisie sniffled again, ‘but you did go. I wanted you to be my mom, and you went away like everyone else.’

‘I came back, didn’t I?’ She chuckled softly, pressing her lips to Maisie’s hair again. Owen returned to the trailer, their mobile home rocking upon his entrance as he paused in the small bedroom doorway to check over them, grimace on his face and heart on his sleeve. ‘I need you to know that if ever I walk out that door or any other, I will always come back to you.’ Her eyes met Owen’s, locking for a brief second before her gaze turned back to the girl lying on her chest. ‘You’ve got us for life, kiddo.’ There were still no promises on that, but Claire was sure she would fight tooth and nail to keep the girl with her no matter the cost. She had committed.

They fell back into silence, still rubbing Maisie’s back as they lay there wasting away a lazy afternoon. ‘Are you still mad at Owen?’ Maisie asked, as his head turned back to them, ears picking up, hoping he would be called forward like the family pet.

Claire hummed. ‘Yes,’ she answered without hesitation, her eyes raising to meet his. ‘But, we’re grown-ups. Our problems are for us to solve. First and foremost, we care about you, Mais. We were arguing about what was best for you and I got a little hot headed about it. I needed to walk away for a little bit to let myself cool down.’

‘But you drove away, not walked.’ Maisie’s hand was tight on the side of her shirt, death-grip returning in memory of her earlier abandonment.

She saw humour flicker across Owen’s face, a smile pulling at his lips, his eyes on Maisie and not Claire. She supposed, somehow, he was drinking them both in. She wasn’t stupid. She knew how much this journey was challenging them but also how thrilled he was to see this side of their lives unfold.

‘Okay,’ she folded. ‘Next time I am mad about something I will go for a walk instead of getting in my car.’ She promised, despite knowing that the road helped her more than the trees. They were more Owen’s thing. Maisie hummed against her chest, breath warm on Claire’s collarbone. ‘How would you feel about moving to the city and staying in my apartment for a little bit?’ They had been out here long enough, and although she and Owen had not precisely agreed on the matter, this was a better opportunity than any other.

‘I like it out here.’ She lifted her head, brown eyes meeting Claire’s for the first time since she came back.

‘We can come back … on weekends.’ Owen offered, jumping in to compromise with Claire. He could have let her do this part-time. Could have told Maisie that she could come to visit whenever she wanted. Instead, he was volunteering his space and home to place them as his most important priority.

She nodded, ‘of course’. This wasn’t about them. It was about Maisie and what was best for her. If she enjoyed being out in the cabin with Owen two days a week, then Claire could live with it. She was getting the better end of the deal. Her apartment, her life, her job nearby. It was him who would have to make the compromises to fit his life with theirs. She could give him two days out of seven.

‘Will you still be my mom and dad in the city?’

Neither adult hesitated, their eyes meeting each other across the small space of the trailer’s bedroom. ‘Always.’ They answered. Claire tugged the girl back into another tight hug. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ Claire reassured Maisie, her lips pressed to the girl’s cheek. She couldn’t. Not when they received that reaction from her.

‘Can you kiss and make up?’ Maisie asked, body still as she waited with bated breath. Claire nodded, her chin brushing against Maisie’s head while she sighed. The girl moved, pulling herself off Claire’s body, her hand still wrapped tightly around a fistful of her t-shirt, keeping hold just in case.

Owen crawled over the mattress, meeting Claire at the headboard as Maisie watched their lips meet. The kiss was quick, a peck as to be child appropriate. Claire felt herself relax, the stressors from their earlier argument melting away with his skin on hers, apologetic and forgiving. Maisie was grinning at them when they pulled away, tears still sitting on her cheeks and her knuckle in her mouth. A smile was a smile. They could start with that.

‘Better?’ Claire asked, watching as the girl nodded. She reached a hand towards her, pushing Maisie’s hair out of her face. She had given them quite the scare, but evidently not as much as they had done to her. Maisie slipped back into Claire’s lap, taking up a space the woman was more than happy to give her.

#clawen #claire dearing #owen grady #maisie lockwood #jurassic world #fallen kingdom #jurassic world fallen kingdom #JWFK #clawen fanfiction #jurassic world fanfiction #fallen kingdom fanfic #jurassic world fanfic #fallen kingdom fanfiction #there will be more to this #in fact I think it'll be it's own mini verse #poor sweet girl Maisie #also i feel weird using that mom and dad prompt for this #because now it's two times Maisie ahs called them that in duress

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