Claire was sitting in her tent, cradling her baby boy, Aaron. Kate walked past but did a double take when she saw Claire. "Claire, honey, you okay?" Kate asked, her voice full of concern, she went over and sat down next to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Honest." Claire replied through gritted teeth. Kate gave her a disbelieving look.
"Come on Claire you're pale and sickly and sweating. What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing! I - "
Kate reached over to Claire and gently lifted Aaron out of her arms. "Claire you're shivering you might drop him or something." Claire nodded glumly at the feisty brunette. "Please Claire, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything." The young blonde gave a sigh of resignation. "Alright Kate but you have to swear on your life not to tell anyone. Promise?"
"Promise." Kate answered. Claire glanced around nervously in case anybody in the vicinity might see them. But that part of the beach was deserted. Then she quickly pulled up the pink sweatshirt she was wearing. Underneath was a tight white vest top which Claire then pulled up to reveal the smooth, pale skin underneath. Instantly Kate realised what was wrong. What had only recently been Claire's perfectly flat stomach was now starting to round into an obvious bump. Tears were beginning to stream down Claire's face as she pulled her tops back down. "Kate…I'm pregnant."
"What? How? When? Who?" Kate was shocked. She had never thought Claire would be so irresponsible to get herself knocked up again, so soon. "I know! I know! I'm an awful person. I mean, I've just had a baby and all…" Claire was getting pretty hysterical.
Slowly Kate lowered the baby into the crib in between them and then lent over and gave Claire a big hug. "Shhh, honey, you'll be okay." Kate was Claire's friend and was determined to stick by her, no matter what. "I'll be here for you, just like everybody else will be." But Claire pulled away from her.
"No, no. They'll just think I'm a common tart!" She cried even harder. Then she suddenly quietened down so that her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't think I can go through the whole pregnancy thing again Kate."
Several days later Kate came across Claire picking fruit in the jungle. Even thought Claire had put on a bigger sweater this time you could still make out the lump that was her new unborn baby. "Hi Claire, where's Aaron?" It was unusual to see her without her son. Claire turned to face the other woman.
"Oh I gave him to Sun to watch for a while. You know, so I could get some air." But there was something uneasy about Claire that Kate immediately figured out. "You haven't told the father yet have you? " Claire sadly shook her head.
"Please tell me who it is Claire! It'll be much easier to tell him if I'm their for moral support. And ,you know, if he goes too crazy I can punch his lights out for you." Claire laughed and Kate smiled back.
"I think you should be able to guess Kate, who the father is." Kate thought for a moment. It wasn't Jack,
Sawyer, Hurley or Jin or Bernard, they were all taken. Not Michael or Sayid either, they were too busy grieving over lost ones. Eko was a priest and Claire hated Charlie's guts. She didn't mix with many of the other survivors, which only left one possibility…Locke.
"But Claire you said you would never think of him in that way! Don't you remember, a while ago, the night he beat up Charlie, when I asked you if you liked him in that way? You said no way! That you just wanted him as a friend. I don't get it, what changed?" Kate spluttered.
Claire looked at the ground and shifted uneasily.
"I've always been in love with John Locke, and I always will be. We've been seeing each other in secret for the past two months, since when I told him my true feelings for him and he told me his for me. That was the night after Charlie…you know, kidnapped Aaron. Anyway, I didn't expect us to have sex quite that soon but we did it that night. And that certainly hasn't been the only time." Claire paused to giggle. "It must've been around that time that I got pregnant. I guess I didn't think I could again so soon after having a baby. I was wrong." She finished, patting her bulging stomach.
"Well why cant you tell him though?" Kate was puzzled.
"I just can't, okay? He might freak and leave me and I'll be alone again and pregnant again…" Claire was breaking down into tears. "Claire, he'd never do a thing like that and you know it. You're just being completely hormonal!" To Kate's surprise Claire stopped crying and started to smile.
"Perhaps you are right Kate! I'll go and tell him right now." And Claire began to head off into the jungle, towards the Hatch.
"Hey Claire! Perhaps it would be best if you got your relationship out in the open, there's no need to keep it a secret now." Kate called after her. She just managed to glimpse Claire's blonde head nod in agreement before she disappeared entirely into the dense jungle.
Claire stumbled over the hidden tree roots and pushed past the thick greenery that was on the pathway that led to the Hatch. She was getting pretty tired, and so paused for breath and sat on a nearby fallen log. It was so peaceful in the jungle, the insects humming and the still warm air…in almost no time she had fallen fast asleep.
Claire awoke with a start. What on earth had happened? The last thing she remembered was sitting on that log, before she had closed her eyes and let the magic of the jungle consume her…She found she was now lying on a bed, covered with two soft blankets. There were metal grey walls surrounding her and she could hear a distant beeping. It was almost hypnotic. Beep. Beep. Beep…
But she wasn't going to let herself fall asleep again. Se stretched and got out of the bed, and tidied the bedcovers so they were neat. The she nervously padded across the room into a larger room. Claire realised at once where she was. The Hatch. "Claire! You're awake. I thought I heard something stir. Do you feel alright?" Locke had suddenly emerged from behind the computer. Claire's heart melted at his concern for her. One of the many reasons why she loved him. She put a hand to her head, "Yeah, I'm fine thanks."
"It's just I found you out cold in the middle of the jungle, I thought you might have been knocked unconscious or something. Anyway Jack was here a while ago and he said you were fine, probably just passed out because of stress or dehydration." But Claire's brain had frozen. Jack, the doctor, had checking her over and stuff, he must have realised she was pregnant! Claire gulped.
"Did Jack say anything else?" Locke shook his head.
"Nope. He had get going, you know, being the island doctor and everything. He seemed to think I was capable of looking after you for a while." Locke smiled at her, then walked over took both her hands in his. "If only he knew," he whispered and kissed the top of her head.
"Listen John, I need to talk to you about something."
Locke looked down at her quizzically. Just get it over with, Claire told herself. "I was on my way to tell you this when I passed out. You see, that's the reason I passed out in the first place. I think my body has gone into shock or something. John, I'm pregnant." There, she had done it.
Locke thought carefully for a moment before responding. "I see, well Claire that's wonderful! I thought you were going to tell me something horrific had happened. I can't believe I'm actually going to be both a step-father and a real father!" He hugged Claire close to him. "I couldn't be happier, Claire. I'm having a baby with the one person who I truly love."
"But aren't you worried about what everyone will think? About us?" Claire asked, trying not to be too overwhelmed by his delight.
"Oh, who cares what they think. You and Aaron and our future baby are the only things I care about in the whole world. I'll never leave your side Claire, never. So don't be scared. These children are going to have the best childhoods, ever." Then Locke kissed her, and ran his hand over her bump.
"I think this child is going to be very tall and smart, will probably take after me." he muttered jokingly when they broke apart.
"As opposed to short and dumb like me?" Claire scoffed back, trying not to giggle. But Locke didn't have time to answer as he wrapped his arms tight around her and kissed her again.