Regaining Trust
By
Nicole
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. I'm just borrowing them for this story.
Summary: During and after "Maternity Leave" Charlie will do anything for Claire and Aaron. However, can Claire let Charlie back into her life?
Chapter 1: Fear
Charlie was sitting on the beach watching as the waves hit the sand. Everyone else were sound asleep as always. However, Charlie looked over his shoulder when he heard Aaron's cries. He could see Claire walking back and forth trying to calm the baby down. Charlie felt the jealousy rise when Claire ran to Lock for help. How he despised that man. Claire used to come to him if there was something wrong with Aaron. Now she ran to Lock , it broke Charlie's heart knowing that she would never trust him again.
As the night went on, Aaron?s cries were embedding themselves into Charlie's head. Charlie buried his head in his hands as he tried to block out the baby's wails. He placed his head under the blanket and fell asleep trying to block the sounds. Claire looked over at Charlie's hut to see his back turned to her and his head was under the blanket. She had no idea that Charlie was slowly dying inside being without her and Aaron, that all Charlie wanted was to be with them once again. However, Claire wasn't even thinking close to what Charlie was thinking at that moment, she was thinking about Aaron's life.
The next morning, Charlie was walking along the beach when he saw Kate holding Aaron. Claire was in a meditating state with Libby helping her. However, his heart stopped when he heard her scream and Libby was trying to calm her down. "It was Ethan! I saw Ethan! I saw him, it was Ethan," Claire babbled. Charlie wanted run up and take Claire into his arms in one brief second, but the pain came back when he remembered that he couldn't be near her or Aaron. "That room is real, it's real. Kate, please help me find it?" Claire begged. Charlie watched as Kate left and Claire got ready to leave the camp.
Claire looked over, after her little scare from the flashback, and saw Charlie staring at her. She held his glance for a brief second before walking off to Sun's hut to have her take care of Aaron while she went to find the medicine that she saw in her flashback. While in the back of her mind, it was bugging her that Charlie has had that sad look on his face for awhile now, but all this time she just ignored it.
Once Claire and Kate left to find Russoe, Sun had placed Aaron into his crib and went to get something to try and cool the baby down. Charlie looked around to see if anyone was looking and he snuck over to the crib. He crouched down beside the crib and touched the baby's hand. "Hey, little guy, not feeling too good? Well, you'll be feeling better soon," he assured the whimpering baby. As he looked at the baby, Charlie felt his heart being torn into tiny pieces. "I know things haven't been great between your mum and me, and I wish there was a way I could make it all go away. I want things to go back to the way they were" Charlie trailed off. He looked over his shoulder to see if Sun was coming. "I have to make this short. I'm going to tell you this now, your mum and you were the best things that ever happened to me. I love your mum and you more than anything. I'll do anything, to get you back" he finished. Tears welled up in Charlie's eyes as he kissed the top of the baby's feverish head. "I love you, Aaron," he whispered. He looked over to see Sun coming back, he quickly left the hut before he got in trouble.
As night came, Charlie was sitting in front of the ocean thinking about what he had said to Aaron. He knew that the kid didn't understand a word he had said, but he couldn't exactly go up to Claire and say all those things to her. Charlie pulled his guitar into his lap and started strumming the strings as he thought back to how happy he felt when he was around Claire and Aaron.
When Claire came back without the medicine, she looked over to see Charlie playing his guitar. "Thank you, Sun, for watching him," Claire told her. Sun nodded as Claire picked Aaron up and took him back to her hut. However, she stopped for a second to listen to Charlie play his guitar. She shook her head slightly and set Aaron back into his crib.
The next morning, Charlie didn't hear Aaron crying. He looked over to see Jack checking the baby over and saw the relieved look on Claire's face. He knew that Aaron was doing much better. He was also relieved, because he wouldn't know what to do if the baby got worse. Now, all Charlie wanted now was to have Claire know that he meant no harm to her or Aaron.
Author's Note: This is my first Lost story, so please be kind. Review please.