muses_creative lucky seven prompt
7 childhood memories
1. Squeals filled the house as she tried to run as fast as her little legs would carry her but of course she couldn't go as fast as he could. "Daddy!" She squealed as he grabbed her around the waist, hauling her tiny frame up and rolling her up so that he could start gnawing playfully on her belly. More giggles burst out of the three year old child as her little legs flailed and hit against his shoulder.
He lowered her then, just a little as he looked down at her, his eyes a little wide. Not that she understood the emotion behind them, the wariness that had been there for a year finally melting as she laid a small hand against his face to pat his cheek a little. "Daddy okay?" She asked, not quite forming full sentences yet but the question was easily understood.
Noah Bennet smiled then, hugging the little blond child close as he nodded, "Daddy okay." He murmured before kissing the top of her head, "I love you, Claire Bear."
It was the first time he had called her that.
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2. She didn't like Lyle at first because in her young mind, he was going to take all the attention away from her. She didn't like the idea of having to share her mommy or her daddy, her daddy was gone a lot to begin with! She liked having mommy all to herself but this new little boy was going to wreck all of that.
At first she ignored him no matter how much Sandra tried to coax her into playing with the baby or even talking to him. She didn't know what "bonding" meant but it didn't sound like much fun if she had to spend time with him. But he was so noisy, he seemed to always want attention and sometimes he seemed to want hers. Or at least that was what mommy tried to tell her.
One time mommy was busy though, one of her dogs was having puppies and so she was downstairs while Claire was upstairs watching television. Lyle was nearby in his playpen, supposedly asleep but she could hear him babbling to himself and when she peeked, she could see his tiny fists flailing in the air. When he started to cry, she thought about yelling out to her mommy to let her know that he was crying but she wasn't sure her mommy would hear her.
Giving a frustrated huff, she pushed herself off the couch and moved over to the playpen. Curling her fingers over the top of the bar, she rose up on her tiptoes and peeked over at him where he laid on his back, getting a little angrier. She could see what the problem was, he didn't have that little plug thing that mommy put in his mouth sometimes.
Sighing, she moved to the chair and stepped up so that she was a little taller than the playpen. Pulling herself over and in, she got to her knees and grabbed the little soother to put in his mouth. He still seemed cranky and so she did what she did to the puppy at times when the dog was fussy. Lying down beside him, she wriggled her body between his and the wall of the playpen as she started to rub his belly softly. She watched him as he finally decided to start sucking on the soother, watching her with big eyes before batting at her with a tiny fist. As he curled his fingers in her hair, she huffed at him and continued to rub his belly, "Sleep, Lyle." She told him as she continued to rub his belly gently.
Sandra found them a half an hour later, both curled up in the playpen and sleeping. Lyle's hand in Claire's hair and one of Claire's hands on Lyle's belly. After that, Claire took to the baby just fine.
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3. Claire wasn't sure that she was going to like school, there were so many kids and adults that she didn't really know. She recognized some, one of the teachers lived down the street but she didn't know her teacher who stood at the front of the class. She just wanted to home to mommy and wait for daddy to come home so that she could tell him that she had decided that she wasn't going to go to school anymore.
"I like your hair thingie." Came the voice beside her and she turned her head, blinking a little at the dark haired boy who sat beside him. She smiled shyly then, touching the little hair pin in her hair that was holding the blond curls back from the one side of her face.
"Thank you." She smiled at him before sticking out a hand like she had seen her daddy do a lot of times. "I'm Claire."
He stared at her hand for a moment before laughing, taking her hand and shaking it rather dramatically. "I'm Zach." He nodded before letting go of her hand and then he picked up the pack of crayons on his desk. "Want to share my crayons?" He smiled.
She nodded, deciding suddenly that school maybe wouldn't be so bad.
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4. Claire never liked when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night, not that any kid would. Her daddy called them night terrors though that never made sense to her. Sometimes she saw flames all around her but daddy told her that it was a normal dream and she was much too young to see the shadow in his eyes when he explained to her that it was going to be okay.
One night was very bad; she couldn't wake up right away. It was one of those times when you think you're awake but you're not and all she could see was the continuous flames all around her. She kept trying to scream, she wanted someone to hear her and to find her. She kept waiting for her mommy to come and find her but all she saw was the shadow of a tall man bursting into her room. He didn't seem to be scared of the flames but she screamed at him to get back.
Then she felt the hands on her shoulders, giving her a hard shake as she heard her mommy warning her daddy not to take shake her too hard. "You don't want to break her neck, Noah” She hissed.
When Claire finally came out of the night terror, she was covered in sweat and sobbing hard as her daddy gathered her up in his arms. She was too scared to go to sleep after that and Sandra had to deal with Lyle who had been woken up by his sister’s screams. So her daddy carried her downstairs and let her sit on the counter, which was a big no-no usually. He talked to her while he made them both hot chocolate and she focused on his soothing voice. When it was time to put her back to bed, she refused whole heartedly; she didn't want to go back to bed.
So he carried her to the couch where he laid down , letingt her wriggle into the spot between him and the couch. Then he played with her hair while she laid her head on his chest, the sound of his steady heart beat finally lulling her back to sleep sometime before dawn.
She got to stay home sick from school for the first time that day.
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5. "Excuse me, are you lost?" Came the gruff voice behind her and Claire froze mid-step before turning to slowly face the imposing man behind her.
He was tall and his hair was starting to grey but there was something faintly regal about him. He had a strong jaw and despite the intimidation factor, there was a gentle smile on his mouth as he squatted down in front of her. She suddenly felt sheepish as she shifted her weight, knowing that she was going to be in trouble. "I'm looking for my dad." She murmured, coloring creeping into her cheeks.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He asked, lifting one eyebrow at her.
"Yes." She sighed, and then groaned as she rolled her eyes, "But my friend is sick and my other friend Jackie was being mean today. Everyone was teasing me and I wanted to hit her but my daddy said I should always walk away from a fight."
"So you walked all the way here to where he works? That's quite a hike." He chuckled, looking a little amused.
Claire's shoulders slumped a little bit as she shifted the backpack on her back, "Yes."
"Who is your dad?" There was something in his eyes that told her he all ready knew but she still answered.
"Mr. Bennet. I'm his daughter, Claire." She held out a hand to him.
"Nice to meet you, Claire," He smiled, taking her hand to shake it but then he didn't really let go. "I'm Arthur. Come on, I'll take you to your dad."
She was only ten at the time but even she could recognize the tension in her father's perfectly masked face when he watched her come walking in holding the hand of the man beside her. Arthur seemed amused as he explained that Claire had gotten lost in the building and then he let go of her hand so that she could walk over to her dad. She was half tempted to stay beside him but the gentle hand on her back nudged her forward.
That was the first time she really got into trouble with her dad; even though he told her it was because she had left school in the middle of the day and walked to his work, she had a feeling it was more with the man named Arthur.
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6. "I hate Jackie!" Claire declared as she walked into the house with a huff, giving a typical thirteen year old pout as she slammed the door behind her and then dropped her bag noisily on the floor.
"Claire Bennet, don't you slam my doors like that and hang up your bag." Sandra's voice floated sternly from the kitchen.
Claire bit back a sigh, rolling her eyes in her mother's direction before turning to grab her bag and put it up properly on the hook near the door. She unzipped the front part, pulling out her homework book before kicking off her shoes so that she could walk to the kitchen. She purposefully stomped, just so that her mom wouldn't forget that she was supposed to be in a bad mood. She moved to the table near the kitchen, slamming down her books before storming into the kitchen so that she could get some chocolate milk out of the fridge.
Sandra was trying not to smile as she focused on her task, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye as she smeared some more frosting on the cupcake in her hand, "Are you going to tell me what's going on or are you going to slam around my house till the walls fall down?"
Claire bit back a sigh as she drank down some chocolate milk before moving to her mom's side, sighing, "I told Jackie that I liked this boy in our class and today she told me that he's going to be her Valentine. She gave him a card already" She scowled darkly at the idea, "She only went after him because she knows I like him."
"Valentine's Day isn't for a couple more days" Sandra shook her head before glancing at her daughter, seeing that the words weren't going to help and so she nodded towards the counter. "Why don't you help me frost some of these cupcakes? I bought little cinnamon hearts today, we can make them Valentine cupcakes and maybe you could give him one. I bet he'd like a cupcake much more than he'd like some stupid old card."
"Fine." Claire shrugged, trying not to look as though the prospect had brightened her mood just a little. She grabbed a spoon before digging into the icing, moving to help with the frosting. "Mom, do you think I'm prettier than Jackie?"
"Of course." Sandra nodded her head, giving her crooked little smile, "And if that boy doesn't think so, maybe we'll give him a pair of your dad's glasses because he'd have to be blind to not think the same thing."
The idea of her crush in her dad's glasses made Claire giggle and wrinkle her nose.
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7. "Claire Bear?" Came the little knock and inquisitive call.
Claire turned in her chair as she watched her dad open her bedroom door, carrying a plate with two cupcakes in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. She smiled a little bit, tilting her head, "Yes, daddy?"
Noah cleared his throat a little, moving over to where she was sitting at her desk, setting the glass and the plate down before looking around to find something to sit on. He finally settled on her full clothes hamper, pulling it over beside her before moving to sit on it a little awkwardly. He looked at her then, looking rather serious and for a moment she was worried till he finally spoke. "Your mom told me you have a crush on a boy in your class?"
Color spread into her cheeks, heating her face as she groaned, "Oh god, of course she told you." Claire dropped her head to her arm which was resting on top of the desk, hiding her embarrassment. Then she sighed, lifting her head as she looked at him, "Yes but he likes Jackie. I gave him a cupcake today but he still wants to be her Valentine." She could remember the smug little smile on Jackie's face.
"Claire," Noah shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose a little, "You're not allowed to date yet." He pointed out, "You're only thirteen years old."
"Dad." She rolled her eyes, huffing at him.
He seemed to sense the argument and he caught her face between his hands, "Listen to me, pretty soon you're going to have to grow up but I don't want to see you rush into it. Any boy that would choose Jackie Wilcox over you doesn't deserve you anyways, so I wouldn't feel comfortable with you dating such a stupid boy, okay?" He moved one hand, smoothing it over her blond curls and for a moment she could see the quiet desperation in his eyes. "Can't you just stay my little girl for a little while longer?"
She hated it when he did that but she sighed a little, relaxing as she offered him a little smile, "Okay fine, but only because he has to be stupid like you said." Maybe he was right, maybe she didn't want anyone that liked Jackie more than her.
"Good girl." He smiled, kissing her forehead before sitting back and then he gave her a big grin, "Anyways, you can be my Valentine if you want."
"Oh god." She groaned dramatically, "Dad, that's so cheesy!" She laughed, pushing lightly at his shoulder.
Which she shouldn't have done, the plastic of the hamper was already folding a little and so the little push easily caused him to topple over. He made a startled noise and she squeaked as she watched him fall over backwards. For a moment she just stared at him, her eyes wide as she watched him lay there for a moment, his legs up in the air and his eyes widen behind his glasses.
Then the first snicker broke out of her as she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, her green eyes dancing with amusement as she watched her dad slowly put his legs down and sit down. He cleared his throat as he looked up at her then and she saw the look in his eyes, a look he used to get when he was about to chase her back when she was just a tiny girl. She squealed, bursting out of her chair as she ran then.
He caught her near the kitchen, threatening to mush a cupcake into her face as he snagged one from the table. Sandra told him to stop, laughing as she did and Lyle asked what was going on. Claire told him about how dad fell over on the hamper and she took the cupcake to the side of the face with a squeal. Of course she grabbed one and did the same to him right back which lead to Lyle rushing to his dad's aid and her mom rushing to hers.
She really didn't think about the boy after that.
1. Squeals filled the house as she tried to run as fast as her little legs would carry her but of course she couldn't go as fast as he could. "Daddy!" She squealed as he grabbed her around the waist, hauling her tiny frame up and rolling her up so that he could start gnawing playfully on her belly. More giggles burst out of the three year old child as her little legs flailed and hit against his shoulder.
He lowered her then, just a little as he looked down at her, his eyes a little wide. Not that she understood the emotion behind them, the wariness that had been there for a year finally melting as she laid a small hand against his face to pat his cheek a little. "Daddy okay?" She asked, not quite forming full sentences yet but the question was easily understood.
Noah Bennet smiled then, hugging the little blond child close as he nodded, "Daddy okay." He murmured before kissing the top of her head, "I love you, Claire Bear."
It was the first time he had called her that.
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2. She didn't like Lyle at first because in her young mind, he was going to take all the attention away from her. She didn't like the idea of having to share her mommy or her daddy, her daddy was gone a lot to begin with! She liked having mommy all to herself but this new little boy was going to wreck all of that.
At first she ignored him no matter how much Sandra tried to coax her into playing with the baby or even talking to him. She didn't know what "bonding" meant but it didn't sound like much fun if she had to spend time with him. But he was so noisy, he seemed to always want attention and sometimes he seemed to want hers. Or at least that was what mommy tried to tell her.
One time mommy was busy though, one of her dogs was having puppies and so she was downstairs while Claire was upstairs watching television. Lyle was nearby in his playpen, supposedly asleep but she could hear him babbling to himself and when she peeked, she could see his tiny fists flailing in the air. When he started to cry, she thought about yelling out to her mommy to let her know that he was crying but she wasn't sure her mommy would hear her.
Giving a frustrated huff, she pushed herself off the couch and moved over to the playpen. Curling her fingers over the top of the bar, she rose up on her tiptoes and peeked over at him where he laid on his back, getting a little angrier. She could see what the problem was, he didn't have that little plug thing that mommy put in his mouth sometimes.
Sighing, she moved to the chair and stepped up so that she was a little taller than the playpen. Pulling herself over and in, she got to her knees and grabbed the little soother to put in his mouth. He still seemed cranky and so she did what she did to the puppy at times when the dog was fussy. Lying down beside him, she wriggled her body between his and the wall of the playpen as she started to rub his belly softly. She watched him as he finally decided to start sucking on the soother, watching her with big eyes before batting at her with a tiny fist. As he curled his fingers in her hair, she huffed at him and continued to rub his belly, "Sleep, Lyle." She told him as she continued to rub his belly gently.
Sandra found them a half an hour later, both curled up in the playpen and sleeping. Lyle's hand in Claire's hair and one of Claire's hands on Lyle's belly. After that, Claire took to the baby just fine.
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3. Claire wasn't sure that she was going to like school, there were so many kids and adults that she didn't really know. She recognized some, one of the teachers lived down the street but she didn't know her teacher who stood at the front of the class. She just wanted to home to mommy and wait for daddy to come home so that she could tell him that she had decided that she wasn't going to go to school anymore.
"I like your hair thingie." Came the voice beside her and she turned her head, blinking a little at the dark haired boy who sat beside him. She smiled shyly then, touching the little hair pin in her hair that was holding the blond curls back from the one side of her face.
"Thank you." She smiled at him before sticking out a hand like she had seen her daddy do a lot of times. "I'm Claire."
He stared at her hand for a moment before laughing, taking her hand and shaking it rather dramatically. "I'm Zach." He nodded before letting go of her hand and then he picked up the pack of crayons on his desk. "Want to share my crayons?" He smiled.
She nodded, deciding suddenly that school maybe wouldn't be so bad.
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4. Claire never liked when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night, not that any kid would. Her daddy called them night terrors though that never made sense to her. Sometimes she saw flames all around her but daddy told her that it was a normal dream and she was much too young to see the shadow in his eyes when he explained to her that it was going to be okay.
One night was very bad; she couldn't wake up right away. It was one of those times when you think you're awake but you're not and all she could see was the continuous flames all around her. She kept trying to scream, she wanted someone to hear her and to find her. She kept waiting for her mommy to come and find her but all she saw was the shadow of a tall man bursting into her room. He didn't seem to be scared of the flames but she screamed at him to get back.
Then she felt the hands on her shoulders, giving her a hard shake as she heard her mommy warning her daddy not to take shake her too hard. "You don't want to break her neck, Noah” She hissed.
When Claire finally came out of the night terror, she was covered in sweat and sobbing hard as her daddy gathered her up in his arms. She was too scared to go to sleep after that and Sandra had to deal with Lyle who had been woken up by his sister’s screams. So her daddy carried her downstairs and let her sit on the counter, which was a big no-no usually. He talked to her while he made them both hot chocolate and she focused on his soothing voice. When it was time to put her back to bed, she refused whole heartedly; she didn't want to go back to bed.
So he carried her to the couch where he laid down , letingt her wriggle into the spot between him and the couch. Then he played with her hair while she laid her head on his chest, the sound of his steady heart beat finally lulling her back to sleep sometime before dawn.
She got to stay home sick from school for the first time that day.
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5. "Excuse me, are you lost?" Came the gruff voice behind her and Claire froze mid-step before turning to slowly face the imposing man behind her.
He was tall and his hair was starting to grey but there was something faintly regal about him. He had a strong jaw and despite the intimidation factor, there was a gentle smile on his mouth as he squatted down in front of her. She suddenly felt sheepish as she shifted her weight, knowing that she was going to be in trouble. "I'm looking for my dad." She murmured, coloring creeping into her cheeks.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He asked, lifting one eyebrow at her.
"Yes." She sighed, and then groaned as she rolled her eyes, "But my friend is sick and my other friend Jackie was being mean today. Everyone was teasing me and I wanted to hit her but my daddy said I should always walk away from a fight."
"So you walked all the way here to where he works? That's quite a hike." He chuckled, looking a little amused.
Claire's shoulders slumped a little bit as she shifted the backpack on her back, "Yes."
"Who is your dad?" There was something in his eyes that told her he all ready knew but she still answered.
"Mr. Bennet. I'm his daughter, Claire." She held out a hand to him.
"Nice to meet you, Claire," He smiled, taking her hand to shake it but then he didn't really let go. "I'm Arthur. Come on, I'll take you to your dad."
She was only ten at the time but even she could recognize the tension in her father's perfectly masked face when he watched her come walking in holding the hand of the man beside her. Arthur seemed amused as he explained that Claire had gotten lost in the building and then he let go of her hand so that she could walk over to her dad. She was half tempted to stay beside him but the gentle hand on her back nudged her forward.
That was the first time she really got into trouble with her dad; even though he told her it was because she had left school in the middle of the day and walked to his work, she had a feeling it was more with the man named Arthur.
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6. "I hate Jackie!" Claire declared as she walked into the house with a huff, giving a typical thirteen year old pout as she slammed the door behind her and then dropped her bag noisily on the floor.
"Claire Bennet, don't you slam my doors like that and hang up your bag." Sandra's voice floated sternly from the kitchen.
Claire bit back a sigh, rolling her eyes in her mother's direction before turning to grab her bag and put it up properly on the hook near the door. She unzipped the front part, pulling out her homework book before kicking off her shoes so that she could walk to the kitchen. She purposefully stomped, just so that her mom wouldn't forget that she was supposed to be in a bad mood. She moved to the table near the kitchen, slamming down her books before storming into the kitchen so that she could get some chocolate milk out of the fridge.
Sandra was trying not to smile as she focused on her task, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye as she smeared some more frosting on the cupcake in her hand, "Are you going to tell me what's going on or are you going to slam around my house till the walls fall down?"
Claire bit back a sigh as she drank down some chocolate milk before moving to her mom's side, sighing, "I told Jackie that I liked this boy in our class and today she told me that he's going to be her Valentine. She gave him a card already" She scowled darkly at the idea, "She only went after him because she knows I like him."
"Valentine's Day isn't for a couple more days" Sandra shook her head before glancing at her daughter, seeing that the words weren't going to help and so she nodded towards the counter. "Why don't you help me frost some of these cupcakes? I bought little cinnamon hearts today, we can make them Valentine cupcakes and maybe you could give him one. I bet he'd like a cupcake much more than he'd like some stupid old card."
"Fine." Claire shrugged, trying not to look as though the prospect had brightened her mood just a little. She grabbed a spoon before digging into the icing, moving to help with the frosting. "Mom, do you think I'm prettier than Jackie?"
"Of course." Sandra nodded her head, giving her crooked little smile, "And if that boy doesn't think so, maybe we'll give him a pair of your dad's glasses because he'd have to be blind to not think the same thing."
The idea of her crush in her dad's glasses made Claire giggle and wrinkle her nose.
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7. "Claire Bear?" Came the little knock and inquisitive call.
Claire turned in her chair as she watched her dad open her bedroom door, carrying a plate with two cupcakes in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. She smiled a little bit, tilting her head, "Yes, daddy?"
Noah cleared his throat a little, moving over to where she was sitting at her desk, setting the glass and the plate down before looking around to find something to sit on. He finally settled on her full clothes hamper, pulling it over beside her before moving to sit on it a little awkwardly. He looked at her then, looking rather serious and for a moment she was worried till he finally spoke. "Your mom told me you have a crush on a boy in your class?"
Color spread into her cheeks, heating her face as she groaned, "Oh god, of course she told you." Claire dropped her head to her arm which was resting on top of the desk, hiding her embarrassment. Then she sighed, lifting her head as she looked at him, "Yes but he likes Jackie. I gave him a cupcake today but he still wants to be her Valentine." She could remember the smug little smile on Jackie's face.
"Claire," Noah shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose a little, "You're not allowed to date yet." He pointed out, "You're only thirteen years old."
"Dad." She rolled her eyes, huffing at him.
He seemed to sense the argument and he caught her face between his hands, "Listen to me, pretty soon you're going to have to grow up but I don't want to see you rush into it. Any boy that would choose Jackie Wilcox over you doesn't deserve you anyways, so I wouldn't feel comfortable with you dating such a stupid boy, okay?" He moved one hand, smoothing it over her blond curls and for a moment she could see the quiet desperation in his eyes. "Can't you just stay my little girl for a little while longer?"
She hated it when he did that but she sighed a little, relaxing as she offered him a little smile, "Okay fine, but only because he has to be stupid like you said." Maybe he was right, maybe she didn't want anyone that liked Jackie more than her.
"Good girl." He smiled, kissing her forehead before sitting back and then he gave her a big grin, "Anyways, you can be my Valentine if you want."
"Oh god." She groaned dramatically, "Dad, that's so cheesy!" She laughed, pushing lightly at his shoulder.
Which she shouldn't have done, the plastic of the hamper was already folding a little and so the little push easily caused him to topple over. He made a startled noise and she squeaked as she watched him fall over backwards. For a moment she just stared at him, her eyes wide as she watched him lay there for a moment, his legs up in the air and his eyes widen behind his glasses.
Then the first snicker broke out of her as she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, her green eyes dancing with amusement as she watched her dad slowly put his legs down and sit down. He cleared his throat as he looked up at her then and she saw the look in his eyes, a look he used to get when he was about to chase her back when she was just a tiny girl. She squealed, bursting out of her chair as she ran then.
He caught her near the kitchen, threatening to mush a cupcake into her face as he snagged one from the table. Sandra told him to stop, laughing as she did and Lyle asked what was going on. Claire told him about how dad fell over on the hamper and she took the cupcake to the side of the face with a squeal. Of course she grabbed one and did the same to him right back which lead to Lyle rushing to his dad's aid and her mom rushing to hers.
She really didn't think about the boy after that.