It's Not The Raptor DNA

Chapter 30

As always, thank you for your reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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"Twenty-Five Points to Raptor Squad."

Claire smiled as she watched Gray slowly grow more animated about his theories on what Elise was made of. She was touched to see the dinosaur doing her best to be an avid listener, and it was obvious that Gray rarely had someone who was willing to listen about what he knew on dinosaurs.

Now he was sitting in the hand of one as he began to talk about the Carnotaurus. It was clear Elise knew that word, and she perked up a little as Gray began to point out her features to Zach. Now that the teen had some visual help, he was willing to pay more attention as his gaze was directed to the shape of Elise's skull.

Claire wondered if either of her nephews would want to come work here. She could see Gray becoming a responsible geneticist, and Zach would be an avid handler. Claire pictured her older nephew being the handler for their Suchomimus; she wasn't their most aggressive carnivore, and she looked quite beautiful with her navy blue scales and golden patterns.

Quiet footsteps pulled Claire from her thoughts, and she internally grimaced at seeing her sister's tear-stained face. The blonde hair wasn't as combed as it normally was, and Claire wondered if Karen and her husband, Scott, had gotten into another argument.

The arguments had been growing pretty frequent in the past couple years. Claire was ashamed to admit her work wasn't the only reason for avoiding family gatherings. It would get so awkward sitting in the silent room as she tried to make conversation with anyone.

It was like Karen and Scott were afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Karen hugged herself tightly before quietly asking, "Did you find them?"

Claire nodded as she hugged her older sister tightly. She wasn't sure what to say to comfort her sister, but she held her tightly as she quietly said, "Gray is teaching Zach about our Indominus. He sure knows his stuff."

Karen only gave a small nod as she sniffed quietly. Claire wasn't sure what to do, but she pulled back as she asked, "Do you want to meet Elise?"

Her sister wiped her eyes as her lips trembled before she tearfully said, "I don't want to ruin that for them too..."

Claire pressed her lips; it was pretty hard to ruin anything with Elise. The two could hear Gray suddenly laugh before Elise's garble sounded over it. Claire peeked around the corner again before smiling at how Zach had perched himself majestically on Elise's muscled neck. The teen had puffed his chest out while placing a hand on his hip before holding a large stick like a sword.

Gray only laughed harder when Elise gave a large yawn.

Claire pulled back to see her sister biting her lip as she tried to hold back the tears. Claire really had no idea what to do in this situation, but she quietly asked, "What happened?"

Karen let out a short, sad laugh before bitterly saying, "Scott and I got into another fight. He didn't want the boys to miss more school, but Zach and Gray are having so much fun here. I've never seen them be so close to each other before. Gray can't get enough of the dinosaurs, and Zach really looks up to Owen."

She paused to give a shaky sigh, and continued, "Gray came in, and he just outright asked if we were getting a divorce..."

Karen shrugged as she gave another sniff before her voice cracked as she said, "I just...I couldn't lie, but I didn't want to say it right then. Scott and I wanted to finalize the divorce before telling them. It's why we sent them here in the first place."