His shout woke her up. She sat up beside him and rubbed circles gently on his back.
"China?"
Breathing hard, he nodded.
"Are you ok?"
He looked at her, then placed his hand on her pregnant stomach. "Never better." In the dark, she knew he smiled.
What did bad memories and trauma mean when it was over and this was real. She, him and whoever was on their way. They were his life now. The shadows had past and he lived in the sun. He never thought he would, never thought he could deserve it.
He'd come a long way since that day she saw him again. When he was dirty, ragged, skinny and wounded. She didn't know him and neither did he. It took time, but he healed and his scars both internal and external were only scars. Sometimes they itched, but the wound was in the past. He was softer, but still the same man, a better man.
There were times when he was afraid that his past would be more real and swallow what he had, just like before. Audrey knew this, she knew him. Her father feared the same things, but she wouldn't let them be spoken. She knew who Jack wanted to be and would take his hand and go there with him. There were rare moments when he expressed his terror that, like his second chance brutally taken from him, this third chance would be ruined because he destroys those he loves. He believed her when she confronted those fears, but still they would return, though each time a little weaker. They were never strong enough to actually pull him from her, because this was real and they were not. Not any more.