Catching Up & Important Question [Henry]

[clairebear2]

Sometime in the future

Change of plans - please refer to Sam as West in this thread - thanks! All will be revealed in time.

Claire was happy. No, she wasn't happy, she was ecstatic. She was deliriously ecstatically happy. She was married to the most wonderful man, and now she was five months pregnant. She had been so busy since she and Sam got married, she hadn't had much time for friends. Claire realised how much this saddened her, and she decided to rectify the situation. She was going to contact one of her oldest and best friends. Henry Ward.

Henry was like a surrogate brother to her, and she hadn't seen him since, well she certainly hadn't seen him since she became pregnant, so when he saw her he would be completely surprised. She hoped however, it would be a nice surprise for him. So she picked up her cell phone, punched out Henry's number and waited for him to pick up. However it went to voice mail. It didn't bother Claire however, she knew if she left a message he'd soon be on her doorstep.

Claire was now living in New York, not with Nathan anymore, but with Sam, Nathan was residing in the White House now, but they weren't too far away from each other, so Claire and Nathan could visit each other on a regular basis. When the voice mail bleeped so it was ready for her so speak she spoke in a very bright and bubbly voice.

"Hi Henry, Claire here. Sorry it's been a long time since we've spoken or met up, but life has been pretty crazy for me recently, anyway, I'd love to see you again, please call round to the house, I have something very important to tell you" she then flipped her phone shut and waited for Henry to arrive, as she lay on the sofa with her feet propped up on a foot rest.

[henry]

"That'll be twelve eighty-five sir." Henry said as he passed the pizza over to the man who had ordered it. The man paid the brunette and Henry turned to leave. Ok, so being a pizza deliver boy wasn't exactly what Henry wanted to do with his live, but you did what you had to. College was hard to come by now a days and Henry needed to earn the money some how. However, Henry would rather be doing something more productive.

After high school, Henry had manged to get into NYSU. Well what did you expect, with grades like his, it didn't matter how much of a slacker you were. Henry was thankful for his powers for giving him a big brain. He managed to keep in contact with some of his friends after high school. He would contact them every now and then and get together for a few rounds of Halo or something.

However he had lost contact with Claire for some time now. He couldn't blame her really. She had a husband now and they were living well together. He wish he could still say the same for him. He was still living with James, but he wasn't around much. As for Amanda, well she finally moved out and moved in with her boyfriend. In reality it was like living by himself. As Henry was getting back on his motorcycle, his phone beeped, signaling a missed call. He picked it up and listened to the voice mail.

He smiled at the sound of Claire's voice. "Well it's about time she called me up." Henry said to himself. He checked the time. He didn't have to be back for another hour. The pizza he had just delivered was the last one before his break. The one good thing about working at a pizza joint was the long breaks. Picking up his cell, Henry called his boss.

"Hey Casey, I'm taking my break. See ya in an hour." Henry said, hanging up, not even bothering to listen to the reply. He pocketed his phone, placed his helmet on and zipped through traffic. Henry recalled where Claire and Sam lived and as he drove through the streets, he wondered what she had to tell him. He had his own things to tell her, but he wasn't sure he wanted to or not. He finally saw Claire's house and stopped in front of it. Getting off, Henry picked up an extra box of pizza. Another plus about working at a pizza joint was the free pizza. He walked up the steps and rang the bell. The minute it opened, Henry held up the box and smiled. "Pete's Jungle Karma Pizza. We deliver under 30 or you get a free Coke." Henry said, letting Claire take in his appearance in blue jeans, a red polo and a matching red cap that looked like a baby tiger.

[clairebear2]

Claire had been waiting for quite a while for Henry to arrive, and she began to wonder if maybe he couldn't make it. However if that had been the case, she was certain he would have messaged her to say he couldn't make it. They might have lost touch for a while, but no way would Henry just leave Claire hanging dry without giving her some sort of indication as to whether he was going to visit or not.

No sooner had she been thinking like that though, she heard a knock on the door. It had to be Henry she thought. When she opened it, all she could see at the start was a pizza box and a guy in a uniform, however she knew that voice. And she began to giggle slightly, not at the fact he was a pizza delivery boy, but the fact of the hat he was wearing. It was so cute, not that she'd admit that to Henry.

She wrapped her arms around him, as much as she could do anyway, and gave him a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek. "Good to see you again Henry" she said softly, giving him a warm smile.

"Pizza!" she said, looking down at her stomach, because she certainly couldn't see her feet, that was for sure. The round swell of her pregnant tummy made sure of that. How Henry hadn't already commented on her state was beyond Claire, but maybe he hadn't actually been looking at her, like really looking at her. He was probably just looking at her face. She was beaming at him of course.

"Come on in Henry" she said and laughed as she closed the door behind him and went into the living room beckoning on him to follow her through. "Jumbo too, awesome, plenty for you, me and the extra mouths I have to feed" she said grinning, wondering how long it would take him to realise she wasn't her normal size. She sat down on the sofa, or at least eased her way down onto the sofa. Yes Claire was that big already, because her previous scan had shown, she wasn't just carrying one baby, she was carrying two.

"So, I've got something to tell you, but how have you been, I've missed you so much" she said giving him an apologetic look.

[henry]

When Henry followed Claire into the house, he hadn't taken in the blond's appearance. It was when he turned to stare at her did he finally noticed something was off. He tilted his head slightly. Ok, so it had been a while since they met, but he was sure Claire wasn't that...well round. And it was center in her stomach...Wait a second. That wasn't fat fat, that was...

"You're pregnant!" Henry exclaimed as it finally clicked. Maybe the fumes from the pizza joint was slowing his brain cells or something. "How...when...?" Henry asked as he stared at her in surprise. It was really something. He hadn't expected this at all. Talk about a surprise.

Henry sat in front of her, placing the pizza down on the table. "Was this what you were planning on telling me?" Henry asked. At Claire's own question, Henry shrugged. He was still shell shocked from the news of her pregnancy. "I've been fine. I go to NYSU and as you can tell I work at a pizza joint." Henry told her. "Amanda just moved out to live with her boyfriend and James is still living with me. He's working for Primatech now actually so I don't see him around much. Now tell me about...that." Henry said, pointing to her belly.

[clairebear2]

Claire began to laugh as Henry finally realised she was looking somewhat 'different', his reaction was so cute Claire thought. Oh how she loved Henry, her best friend and surrogate brother all rolled into one, if she could officially adopt him she would. Actually why couldn't she? Everything else could pretty much be done, why couldn't she adopt him as her brother? Anyway, she shook her head of the thoughts and continued to laugh at his reaction.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant" Claire confirmed with a grin, "Surely I don't need to tell you how Henry" she began and winked at him, raising her eyebrow, "but the when, that would be five months ago now" she said still grinning.

Claire was probably the happiest she had felt in quite a long time. She was happily married, pregnant, with twins and she was sitting down, eating and talking to her best friend Henry. It was just wonderful.

"One of the things to tell you was that I was pregnant, yes, but I've got a question to ask you as well" Claire said grinning, not telling him right away what she was going to ask him. She listened to him as he quickly rambled about his life and his brother and cousin. Claire kept smiling through out everything he said.

"Well, I'm pleased to hear it" she said softly, "This, is my very pregnant stomach, I'm five months gone and I'm having twins" Claire said grinning. She had also found out the sex of the twins, they were going to be girls. "So you're going to be an Uncle" Claire said grinning, "I can even tell you the sex of them" she added.

Claire was rather excited about pending motherhood, she was sure it would be amazing. With both her and Sam having Rapid Cellular Regeneration, she did begin to wonder if both their babies would have the same ability or if they would have something completely different. Or would they even have an ability at all.

"I'd like you to be their godfather" Claire said looking at him in the eyes, sincerely, all laughter gone from her face.

[henry]

Henry was awestruck. She was having twins. This was great. He couldn't imagine Claire as anything but a good mother. She was kind, sweet, and very much caring. He didn't know where'd he be if it wasn't for her. Perhaps somewhere in Level 5, but he'd rather not think about that right about now.

"What are they? Boys or girls?" Henry asked, smiling when Claire said he'd be an uncle. He was glad to be considered a surrogate brother to her. He knew she had half brothers so it made him happier to be included in the family. Claire had helped fill a hole in him he didn't know he had.

When Claire said she'd like for him to be the godfather, Henry sat there staring at her. His eyes widened slightly but he still sat there. In fact, he seemed to have frozen stiff. He slowly tilted to the left before falling over, fainting. Apparently he had gotten on too many shocks for the day. Fortunately it was a mild fainting spell and Henry got back up seconds later. "Yes! Of course I'd be happy to." Henry said.

[clairebear2]

Claire was glad she'd caught up with Henry again, it was only now that he was here in her living room, talking and sharing pizza with her did she realise how much she had missed him. Missed having him around. She decided she was not going to let that happen again. Just like she refused to let Henry become like Gabriel. She would always protect Henry with her life, just like she would with Lyle, Monty and Simon.

"They're girls" Claire said beaming. "You're going to have two nieces" she added, she was enjoying catching up with Henry, and it was good to speak to him about her babies and tell him he was going to be an uncle and of course to tell him she wanted him to be a godfather to her two babies. Even if babies were never really a guys thing, and if she got the feeling or the impression Henry wanted to change the subject she would.

When Claire asked him to be godfather to her twins however, she hadn't banked on him passing out on her. She was about to slap him awake when he suddenly came round and spoke. Claire grinned. "You would? Oh Henry, that's awesome" Claire said as she leaned over nearer to him and swamped him in a hug. "You're the best brother ever" she added. She loved Lyle, Monty and Simon, but somehow she didn't feel like she connected with them. Not in the way she connected with Henry, and he wasn't even a brother at all.

[henry]

Henry was feeling giddy inside. He missed hanging out with Claire. With James off doing gods know what and Amanda being...Amanda there was little for Henry to do. He hadn't hung out with anyone in a while and he was really bored. Even reving through New York on a motorcycle had eventually lost it's excitement. And she called him the best brother ever which was a plus, and he wasn't even her brother.

"Yeah, just don't invite me to the baby shower." Henry said. Yeah, he was excited about the kids, but he wasn't willing to sit through hours of baby shoes or anything like that. "Ok, so how's Sam feel about being a dad to two kids. And, don't both of you have powers. What are you going to tell the doctors if one of the girls set something on fire after being spanked," Henry asked, referring to the part where the doctor had to hit the baby to make sure it had a set of lungs.

[clairebear2]

Claire knew she should have got in touch with Henry sooner than she did. She'd missed him heaps. She still couldn't believe he'd passed out on her asking him though, that was kind of funny, but also very sweet. She began to laugh when he said no to going to any baby showers.

"Oh Henry, of course I wouldn't invite you to the baby shower, it's not really something for a guy to attend. So you're quite safe" Claire replied grinning at him. She knew he would be happy about her pregnancy, and she was glad he was happy about being asked to be a Godfather, but she knew babies weren't a guy's thing, she wasn't silly.

"Sam's happy of course, having brought up Carla for most of his life, he's happy to something someone to look after again, as well as me" Claire started with a bit of a laugh. "Yes we both have the same power, and we did wonder about the babies, we'll just have to hope and pray their abilities start a little later, or they have something which isn't visible or detectable right away" Claire finished, sighing gently.

"But it would be funny if the baby conjured a fire ball for being spanked to breathe" Claire replied laughing at the thought, thinking of the look on the nurses faces if it were to happen.

[henry]

Henry grinned back at Claire as he tried to imagine the situation if either newborns were to use powers at birth. He had a hard time trying not to laugh. He took a bite out of his pizza. He looked at Claire with a face clearly asking for a drink. He couldn't likely ask her with a full mouth now could he. Sure he was still a little punk, but he had learned some manners over the past year. Ok, maybe it was just learning how to not talk with a full mouth, but manners are still manners right?

[clairebear2]

Claire couldn't stop laughing at the suggestion of her babies letting off fire balls or any other sort of ability when they got spanked to make sure they were breathing. However, with a bit of luck her girls would cry the minute they were born and wouldn't need to be spanked anyway.

Of course they had been talking and eating for quite a while, and what with the laughing as well, Claire realised she was thirsty, and by the look on Henry's face he was too.

"I'll just go get us something to drink" she said, as she hauled herself off of the sofa and into the kitchen. She pulled out two glasses poured cola into them and then went back into the living room again.

Easing herself down onto the sofa, she handed a glass over to Henry with a smile.

"There you go, and really we shouldn't leave it so long to get in touch next time, I've missed you, we need to get back into spending time together" Claire said with a grin, meaning every word. She missed having her 'brother' around.

[henry]

Henry took the drink from Claire gratefully. He practically downed the whole drink in one shift fashion. He let out a loud burp. Yeah, he still had some manners to learn. "S'cuse me." Henry said before chuckling lightly. He wiped his mouth and looked up at Claire.

"Yeah, we really do need to catch up more," Henry agreed. "But I don't blame you. You've got a family to take care of. Especially in a few months." Henry added. He really missed his 'sister' probably as much as she missed him. "So, how's the rest of your family doing?"

[clairebear2]

"You're welcome" Claire said as she watched Henry down the drink in practically one go. He didn't even have to say thanks the look in his face had said it all, and when he burped after he drank all the drink Claire just laughed. "It's fine, I do it all the time, especially since falling pregnant" and with that she downed most of her own drink and then she too burped. "See, told you" she said grinning. "Excuse me" she added still grinning.

"I'm glad you understood, but really Henry, saying I have a family to take care of is true, but you're my family too and now we have met up, it will be easier to meet up in future" she said smiling, and she meant it too.

"Yeah everybody is fine I guess. Nathan is busy being Nathan" she said referring to her biological father, "Noah and Sandra are keeping well too and are having some teenage trauma with Lyle I believe, I haven't seen those guys in a while either, I'm probably closer to my birth father Nathan than my adopted family these days" she explained, "But they do know about the babies and of course they're very happy" she added with a smile.

"So, how do you think it feels to be 'Uncle Henry' huh?" she asked him with a smile.

[henry]

It was good to hear that Claire's family was fine. He might not have met them all personally, but he remembered James had to interview Nathan once. Ironic now isn't it that both Wards had met father and daughter without even knowing it at first. "That's good to know."

There was an awkward pause for Henry. Nathan and the Bennets weren't exactly who he had in mind. He was hoping to learn something about some other members of Claire's family. However, he dropped it and smiled. He wouldn't want to ruin this moment with something trivial.

"Uncle Henry makes me sound old. That's like something you say to like your great uncle or something," Henry commented. "How are you going to feel when they start calling you mommy?"

[clairebear2]

"Yeah" Claire said with a smile, and then began to wonder if she should speak about her other members of the family such as Gabriel and Peter. Thinking back to that night with Gabriel, she wondered if it was okay to talk about it. But she figured it wouldn't do any harm, after all as far as she could see Henry was over it.

"Not sure you'll be interested to know, but Peter is doing great since he came off his villainous power trip and became the hero again and Gabriel, well last time I visited him he seemed to be on the good path again also" Claire said as truthfully as she could, as it had been a few weeks since she'd seen either Peter or Gabriel.

"Yeah I guess it would make you feel old, but I'm actually really looking forward to being called mommy" Claire said with a grin. "Although I guess they can just call you Henry if that's what you would prefer, because I don't think calling you God daddy is going to be much better" Claire said laughing.