With you, I'm home

Falling into place

Owen was the first to wake the next morning, he woke up at 6am as there really wasn't enough room in that bed for all three of them.. he quietly got out of the bed and when he was out of it he suddenly realised Claire wasn't there. He tucked the blanket back up under Maisie's chin and made his way to the kitchen where he seen Claire sat at the table looking beautiful.

'Hey' Owen whispered walking over to her to place a gentle kiss on her lips

'Good morning' Claire answered with a soft smile on her lips

'How long have you been awake for' he asked considering it was only 6:10am

'Only 20 minutes, Maisie really is a bed hog' Claire chuckled

'I know I'm pretty sure that squirt took up two thirds of the bed.. do you want a coffee' Owen replied

'Yes please, 2' Claire said until she was cut of

'2 sugars and a splash of milk' Owen interrupted

They both looked at each other and shared a laugh.

Owen made his way over to the table with both of there coffee's and handed Claire's to her were he sat opposite her. He just sat and stared for a few seconds taking in every little detail of her face. Suddenly, Owen noticed that Claire seemed really quiet

'Hey, what's up' Owen said titling his head sympathetically towards Claire

Claire looked up from her coffee and locked eyes with Owen were she began to get emotional..

'Do you think we're enough. For Maisie. She lost her whole family in a matter of hours Owen, she must be so scared' Claire whispered

'I think as long as we try our best and don't give up on her, that's enough' Owen confidently said squeezing her hand that wasn't around her coffee cup. He could see that Claire still wasn't convinced. 'When I was watching you both last night, I could already see that she felt safe here claire. I know that sounds far fetched but she had a look in her eyes of relief and comfort and I thought to myself in that very moment, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that this little girl never feels scared again' Claire looked up at him with emotion in her eyes.. 'I know how it sounds Claire but she's ours. I just know that was the reason everything happened- to lead us to Maisie' Owen sniffed trying to hold back his tears and when he looked at Claire she was glowing, the smile on her face was priceless.

'I love you so much' she gently said softly rubbing the side of his face with her thumb

'I love you' Owen replied

The couple talked about their plans for today and how they were going to take Maisie for a walk if she felt like it to see the lake they were close too. This was their first day as a family and already by 7am they could feel everything falling into place.

After about an hour of chit chat and watching the sunrise, Claire and Owen started to hear movement coming from the bedroom, then they heard a yawn, and then they heard two little feet jump out of their bed, then they heard little footsteps making the way out of the bedroom. The pair both turned when they heard the squeak of the bedroom door opening. When the door opened they seen a beautiful, vulnerable little nine year old brown haired girl standing there in a T-shirt far too big for her and in that moment Owen and Claire didn't want to be anywhere else.

'Good morning Maisie' Claire said smiling at the girl

'Mornin kiddo' Owen said cheerful as Maisie made her way over and sat next to Owen

'Good morning' Maisie yawned looking at the both of them awkwardly sat next to Owen

'Come here squirt' Owen put his arm around her and Maisie rested her bed head on his chest

'Did you sleep well' Claire asked from across the table

'I slept very well, the bed is bigger than I thought it was going to be' Maisie answered in her British accent

'Yeah, it felt big because your a bed hog' Owen said tickling the girls tummy and laughing

Maisie instantly burst out laughing and flipping onto her back were she couldn't catch her breath from her bodies automatic response to laugh whilst Owen was tickling her.

'Stop... stop....' Maisie said laughing so much tears were streaming down her face

After a few seconds Owen stopped and helped the girl up and he ruffled her head

'That's what happens when you hog my bed' he said laughing pulling a funny face at Maisie

Maisie laughed and put her head back on owen secretly hoping he'd put his arm back around her

Claire watched from the other side of the table just taking in every second. Even though Claire never imagined herself having children of her own, she could feel a love already forming for maisie and she just knew that this was her little girl.

Owen noticed Claire staring at himself and maisie and the two made eye contact which probably went on for a bit too long because maisie interrupted..

'Claire you can join the hug as well if you'd like too' she said giggling

'Yeah come on over there's enough room' owen said winking at the beautiful red head

Claire stood up and made her way around the table were she sat next to owen and put her head on his chest like maisie and rubbed Maisie's hair. Owen, Claire and maisie could have stayed like this all day.

A little while later, after breakfast and everyone was washed and dressed for the day Claire made the preposition to go for a walk. This immediately pricked Maisie's ears up and she was extremely eager to go exploring with Owen and Claire around the Forrest and lake. So at 12pm Claire, Owen and Maisie all put on their shoes and left the camper van to go exploring.

It really was the prefect spring day, the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, leaves were starting to grow back on the tree's, the lake was crystal clear. Owen and Claire were walking hand in hand and Maisie was running just ahead of them taking everything in, she really was enjoying swinging of tree branches and running behind tree's and jumping out to make Owen and Claire jump. On this walk, Owen and Claire both realised how adventurous Maisie was and she honestly wasn't scared of much.

'She reminds me of me when I was a kid' Owen said watching maisie infront of him

'I remember your telling me you were a risk taker child- I'll never forget the story you told me when you were rolling down a hill with your brother and you didn't realise there was a 8ft drop behind the bush and you didn't stop in time' Claire chuckled

'Yeah me and Sam had some really good times' Owen sighed putting his arm around Claire and pulling her close

'When did you last speak to him, Owen' Claire sympathetically asked looking up at her favourite man in the world

'12th June 2013' Owen said not making eye contacting with Claire

'Times precious Owen, you gotta talk with him' Claire said pulling his face down so he would look at her

'I know, I'll work on it' he said pulling her in for a kiss

'Ewwwwwwwww' they heard the most cheekiest giggle come from about two metres away

'What are you ewwwwwing at kiddo' Owen laughed looking over at the brunette little girl

'Your kissing' Maisie replied still laughing

'What like this?' Owen said again pulling Claire back in for a second kiss

'Yes like that! You love her' Maisie said laughing and running over to the pair

As Maisie ran Owen opened his arms and she jumped up for Owen to pick her up and held Claire's hand with the other arm. The family carried on their walk through the beautiful forrest with the fulfilled feeling that everything was falling into place.