It didn't lessen the blow, but it distracted Claire from gearing up immediately to face off with him about just what exactly she was going to do and how he wasn't going to stop it.
"They did- I can't- I don't want them to see me like this." Not Ben, so close to her heart. Not the older Ben, who she'd caught referring to her as 'Mom' when he thoughts she wasn't in the room, not Natalie, that parentage puzzle that a part of Claire had already solved just by watching her, not Megan, not any of them.