Giggles woke Owen up.

It took him two seconds to realize where he was. He was sleeping on a couch, Blue at the foot of it watching him calmly while Leo scratched her behind the ears. Kat and Eli were giggling behind their brother, one clad in Minnie Mouse red pajamas, the other in blue Donald Duck's.

The Dearings, right. It all came back to him in a flash and he buried his face in a pillow when he saw it was barely seven.

"It should be forbidden to laugh at people so early in the morning," he grumbled.

"We're not laughing at you!" Kat protested.

"We're laughing at Leo because Blue has been licking his face for the past minute!" Eli explained.

Now that he took a closer look, Owen realized that the collar of Leo's Spiderman's pajamas top was wet with dog drool. "It's okay," the boy said, laughing with his sisters as he hugged Blue who looked like the happiest dog alive.

Owen wondered if it was like this every morning at the Dearing household. He could picture Claire waking up early every single day and getting dressed, her hair perfectly framing her face, soon followed by her children. He could imagine them always being on time, always polite and happy. Like the sickeningly perfect family they seemed to be.

But as he got up from the couch, he paid a closer look to the living room. He didn't have that luxury the day before, the first time because he made a bee line for Claire's office and the second time because he was so tired and didn't want to disturb the seeming calmness of the room. He noticed toys here and there and a thin layer of dust on the furniture. One of the glass panels in a corner even had small hand prints on it.

Owen just smiled. No matter how much Claire tried to keep her house perfectly clean, children were just children and would eventually mess it up. It actually reassured him to notice that the Dearings weren't perfect.

"So, hum… what do you guys usually do in the morning?" Owen asked, suddenly unsure of what to do. He had never actually taken care of kids before. Babysitting wasn't his thing and he didn't have any nephews to look after, or children for that matter. It was just him and Blue.

This time, it was Leo who spoke. "It's Sunday and that day we make pancakes with mom!"

"And then we go play outside if the weather is nice!" Kat added.

"Or we go see a movie!" Eli said.

He noticed that, despite their smiles, there was a hint of sadness every single time one of them mentioned Claire.

Owen scratched the back of his neck. He didn't exactly have a plan, besides taking the kids back to see Claire. The doctor would probably release her in the evening and Karen was due to arrive around that time as well. Owen actually wondered what he would do once Claire's sister was there. It's not like he had any major connection with Claire, they just shared a fence and a disastrous first date. There was no reason for him to tag along once Karen would be there.

Brushing these thoughts aside, he stood up. "So, how about we do that and then later you guys can help me prepare the things we have to bring your mom, alright?" All three kids nodded and followed Owen in the kitchen, Blue right behind. She was waggling her tail at Owen's legs until he looked down at her.

"Oh right, her dog food!" He turned towards the children. "Can I trust you to be nice and stay in the house while I go grab some food for Blue?" They all squealed excitedly at the idea of seeing Blue being fed and promised to be good. Owen gave them one last look before he quickly grabbed his keys. He didn't bother walking the whole way down to the street and then back up his own lawn; instead he just jumped above the fence.

But he did take the time to change, not wanting to arrive all sweaty and stinking at the hospital later that day. He grabbed a can of dog food and locked the door again. He was opening the Dearings' front door when a loud crash, some gasps and screams made him rush into the kitchen.

Leo was sitting on the kitchen isle, a bag of flour half ripped in his hands while Eli was arguing with Kat, one girl having an empty egg shell in her hand, the other pointing at the actual egg that had fallen on her bare foot. There was broken glass on the floor next to them and the first thing Owen did was gently push both girls back so they wouldn't walk on it.

"Blue, stay by the door!" he said when the Shepherd got curious. He also didn't want her to hurt herself on the glass or make an even bigger mess than the children already had. "What happened?" he asked as he careful picked up the shards.

"Eli wanted to do the eggs, but I told her we have to wait for you!" Kat said, glaring at her sister.

Eli had thrown the egg shell in the bin and was glaring back at Kat. "We could have started the preparations, Owen doesn't have to do everything for us! We could help, just like we help mom. I always do the eggs!"

"Yes, but mom's usually around to watch us! We can't make pancakes alone!"

"Sure we can!"

"No we can't!"

"Girls, stop it." Owen said, placing each hand on a girl's shoulder, making them look at each other. "You shouldn't argue. Now. I can't say I approve of you cooking alone. Especially since you broke a glass and you could have hurt yourself. And I promised your mother I'd take care of you. So, how about we do it like this: you guys show me how you usually do the pancakes and I'll just watch and help you but only if you want me to."

Eli glared one last time at Kat, then nodded. Owen couldn't help but smile when the two other kids nodded as well and set to work. He hadn't known the kids that well before, but just spending a few hours with them the day before and now, he learned a great deal. He could see that Kat was leaning more towards control and rules, management and organization. While Eli was more energetic but also more reckless, defying the rules and wanting to prove that she could do things even when others didn't believe she could. Both girls shared Claire's personality, but in different ways. As for Leo, he remained silent while his sisters argued, something that probably wasn't a first from the look on his face. Owen helped him up on a chair (Claire would probably have a heart attack at all the flour on his face and clothes) after he washed as much flour off his face as he could. Kat also washed her foot and then her hands, insisting Eli also washed hers, to the girl's visible annoyance.

The pancakes weren't actually that bad, Owen had to admit and he only helped the girls flip them on the pan. Leo dressed them with jam and maple syrup and Owen fed Blue, to the children's delight. After that, Owen insisted the children all take a bath and helped them chose clothes. Once everyone was ready, their teeth brushed and hair combed, they moved to Claire's office.

Owen had to say he was proud of them and also of himself. True, Leo's shirt was askew and had been buttoned unevenly, Eli's red ribbons tied her hair at an odd angle that the girl seemed to like but that made her look like she had a palm tree on her head and Kat's shoelaces were a nightmarish maze, but besides that, they looked fine.

"Ok, so the things we need to bring your mom are fresh clothes, some hygiene products like deodorant I guess and maybe some things she'd like to see? Like, do you think she'd like a picture of you guys, or a book to read until she's released?"

"We can take the picture from her desk, she likes that one a lot," Leo chimed in.

"And her book about that horse rider!"

"The cowboy and the thief?" Kat asked.

Eli nodded. "We should also bring her the dinos."

"What dinos?" Owen asked. He had been following the conversation so far, but he didn't get that one.

"These ones!" Kat said and pointed proudly at the cabinet. On top of it were a dozen small dinosaur origami made with colorful papers. Owen couldn't name all of them, but he had to admit they were really well done. "Last year, Leo was really sick and mom stayed the whole week at home to be with him. She looked a tutorial up on the internet and made the origami T-rex to cheer him up, because Leo loves dinosaurs and so she made all the others too."

Owen smiled. He could picture Claire sitting down for hours, focused on folding neatly the tiny piece of paper until it was perfect. The only time Owen had tried to fold an origami, he had ripped the paper in half out of frustration in the middle of it.

He was extra careful when he put the origami in her bag, and then added the book Eli gave him. As he leaned on her desk to grab the picture standing there, he couldn't help but notice the importance of the papers littering her desk. He didn't look too long, not wanting to be nosy, but he saw enough to understand Claire was about to close some kind of important deal. He'd have to tell that to Karen, so she could warn her boss Claire was not coming to work for a solid week and that they had to close that deal on their own. Knowing Claire, she'd try to finish it, but Owen hoped Karen would be able to prevent Claire from exhausting herself again.

He also saw a small paper notebook with a list in Claire's neat handwriting. Most of those tasks were common house chores, there was a bit of work but the thing that came back several times was "spend time with stars".

That's the moment Kat decided to come into the office and saw his confused face.

"What are you looking at?" she asked while Leo and Eli were looking for Claire's clothes.

"Why did she put "stars" in it? What does it mean?"

Kat smiled. "It means us: Leo, Eli and I. Mom always says we are her stars."

Kat then grabbed him by the hand and led him out of the office. "Come on, Owen, Eli and Leo have chosen her clothes already!"