I wrote this for myself ages ago but I decided to publish it, I hope you like it! Let me know what you think, thanks:-)
"Tell me again why you agreed we would babysit this thing" Sawyer drawled sarcastically, holding baby Charlie out at arms length. There was a God-awful smell emanating from his diaper and there was snowballs chance in hell he was going near that thing.
Juliet rolled her eyes as she took the baby from her husband and settled him on her hip. Charlie immediately reached out for the gold chain around her neck, pulling it straight into his slobbery, toothless mouth.
Sawyer's face scrunched up in a mixture of disgust and horror. That gold necklace had set him back $800 last Christmas, and now Juliet was letting the smelly, slobbery baby shove it in his mouth!
"I seem to recall you telling Desmond he needed to take Penny out more" Juliet quirked her brow as she grabbed Charlie's diaper bag.
"Still doesn't explain why we got stuck with the human poop machine!"
"Oh c'mon, James. He's really not that bad!" Juliet scoffed, wiping Charlie's dirty bottom like a pro. "Are you Charlie?" She asked, now addressing the chubby baby. "Noooo, you're a little cutie, aren't you?!" She cooed in that baby voice Sawyer pretended to hate, but secretly loved. "You just ignore mean old uncle James!" She continued, now peppering the boy in kisses and tickling his stomach.
Sawyer couldn't hide the smile that worked its way onto his face as he watched them. Juliet's face lit up and illuminated the room in a beautiful glow every time the baby giggled. The room suddenly felt a lot warmer, and Charlie seemed a little less gross to Sawyer.
Juliet continued to talk gibberish to Charlie as she redressed him in his denim dungarees. It all seemed to come naturally to her and every time she was around a child, be it Charlie or Aaron or Julian or even Ji-Yeon she made it seem so effortless. Juliet would literally light up around children, and although they had never actually had the conversation, Sawyer knew she wanted kids.
And, as much as he disliked them, the thought of having kids of his own with Juliet was a thought he welcomed. With somebody as beautiful and smart and just plain phenomenal as Juliet, who wouldn't want to reproduce and share some of it?
Sawyer was so consumed in his own thoughts, picturing Juliet as a mother, that he didn't hear her calling him.
"Huh?" He asked, wondering why it suddenly smelled gross again.
"I said can you watch Charlie for five minutes?"
As Sawyer looked to the baby, it was only then did he see that Juliet was covered in vomit. He wasn't squeamish in any sense of the word, but his stomach churned slightly as he saw Juliet's hair matted with chunky, green baby puke.
"What if something happens?" Sawyer asked, immediately feeling stupid as Juliet quirked her brow sarcastically.
"Like what?"
"Like?... I don't know... What if he pukes all over me? Or if he starts cryin'? Or-"
"-it's just five minutes, James. Ten at the most" Juliet shrugged, peeling her vomit soaked t-shirt from her skin. "You'll be fine" she kissed them both on the forehead before disappearing upstairs to the shower.
"Okay, buddy. It's just you an' me" Sawyer spoke as he placed the baby on the floor with his toys. "Now you be good an' don't do anything until your Auntie Juliet comes back"
Charlie looked up at Sawyer through sparkling, round, sea blue eyes. The young child's eyes began to fill with tears, clearly not enjoying sitting on the floor. His bottom lip quivered, sending a shiver of dread down Sawyer's spine.
"No. No cryin'" he said with a nervous laugh patting the boys soft head, causing Charlie to start full on wailing. "Crap!" Sawyer muttered under his breath as Charlie started screaming. He looked around for what Desmond referred to as Charlie's 'binky' but the screaming one year old only spat it out and screamed harder.
Sawyer tried handing him his favourite toy, but Charlie only threw that too. The child was getting more and more distraught by the second and Sawyer was running out of options.
"Okay, wait there" he told Charlie before he ran out of the room and burst into the bathroom.
"JULES!" He shouted so Juliet could hear him over the spray of the shower. "He started crying and he won't stop!"
"James, did you leave him on his own?!"
"Yes but only for a minute. Can't you come make it stop?"
"I'm a bit busy right now!" Juliet pointed to the soap in her hair.
"Please, Jules. I think I broke him! He is screaming bloody murder down there!"
"James, you can't break a baby" Juliet smiled slightly. "I'll be down as quick as I can but until then just try rocking him or something"
"You mean hold him?" James looked terrified but Juliet simply nodded. "What if I drop him?"
"You won't. Now go!"
Clearly Juliet had more faith in him than he had in himself.
Sawyer quickly rushed back to the living room, where Charlie was still wailing on the floor. Hesitantly, Sawyer bent down and picked the baby up, pleasantly surprised when he stopped crying.
"Yeaaaah!" Sawyer smiled as he bounced Charlie the way he had watched Juliet do it. Charlie reached out his hand and grabbed Sawyer's stubbly chin as he let out a giggle.
It was stupid, but Sawyer felt different. Even though it had terrified him and he hadn't known what to do, despite the answer being blindingly obvious, he had gotten Charlie to stop crying. His chest felt all warm and tingly as he looked down upon Charlie's chubby face. The once screaming baby was now giggling and babbling along with the nonsense that seemed to be spewing effortlessly from Sawyer's mouth.
Would he ever be able to do this himself? He wondered. The thought of having his own child terrified him. That was a lot of responsibility, but for some reason Juliet made it all seem okay. She would be there to do what he couldn't. She would teach him. The same way she did today.
Maybe it would be nice to have a baby of his own, Sawyer noted as he watched Charlie's eyelids become heavy. He continued to bounce and rock Charlie, watching as his long lashes fluttered shut.
He subconsciously smiled as he heard Juliet's foot falls on the creaky stairs.
"Ssshhhh" Sawyer whispered. "He just fell asleep"
Juliet smiled.
"I'll just get his travel cot"
"No, no, it's okay" Sawyer whispered sheepishly. "I can hold him"
Juliet's heart felt like it was going to burst in her chest. She had always saw Sawyer as a father figure and she knew that deep down he would make an amazing father. She watched silently as he held a sleeping Charlie in his arms, enthralled by him. She had never seen Sawyer look at a child that way before.
But that image; Sawyer holding a baby, just seemed so right. So perfect. She felt a dull ache in her womb as she watched him kiss Charlie's head ever so carefully. Maybe one day they could have a family of their own.
"You can go and finish your shower" Sawyer smiled at Juliet, blushing slightly beneath his stubble as he realised she was staring at him. "It's okay, I got him"
Juliet smiled again, taking one last look at the two of them before she kissed him on the lips. God he was so hot right now, she thought.
"Alright"
One last chaste kiss and Juliet headed off to finish off her shower.
Sawyer decided that he liked this feeling. As terrifying as it was. He was starting to believe that he really could do this. Be a father. Have his own little family. Anything was possible now he had Juliet. She had changed him so much, and all for the better. He was suddenly proud of the person he was, and felt like he was someone Juliet could be proud of too.
Well, she did agree to marry him.
Sawyer let out a content sigh as Charlie squirmed in his sleep. He chuckled as he watched Charlie's chubby face contort in his sleep. The baby smiled and felt a lot warmer in Sawyer's arms. He didn't think too much of it until a nasty smell burnt his nostrils and back of his throat.
Oh God.
Sawyer sniffed the air and immediately regretted it as the smell of baby poop filled his nostrils.
Sweet Jesus he was going to be sick. What the heck were Penny and Desmond feeding this kid? Indian food? If shitting were an Olympic sport, Charlie Hume would win gold every time!
The feeling of dread suddenly filled his bones again, and as if in instinct he ran up the stairs and towards the bathroom. He once again burst into the bathroom, this time with the stinky baby in his arms.
"Wha-? James? Are you okay?" Juliet asked, panicked as she stuck her head out of the shower cubicle.
"It did it again, Jules" Sawyer almost borked.
"Did what?"
"Pooped! Seriously Juliet, I think this kid has something wrong with it. Nothing should crap this much!"
Juliet groaned as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body before relieving a rather green looking Sawyer of Charlie.
"It's just a dirty diaper" Juliet spoke once they got to the changing table downstairs.
"That kid could shit for the U.S. and win gold!"
Juliet elbowed Sawyer in the ribs as he hovered over her, watching what she was doing but still keeping his distance. She did have to admit, this kid did poop a lot and this was a particularly gross one.
"It's just poo!"
"Yeah well remind me that when we have our kid NOT to feed it whatever those two feed him!"
Juliet froze as she heard her husbands words. Our kid.Our kid. Did he just say he wanted kids? He couldn't have, could he?
"You mean you want kids?" She dared to ask, laying a freshly changed and still sleeping Charlie down in his portable cot.
Sawyer shrugged.
"I don't know... Maybe? I mean, I got Charlie to stop cryin', right? And he fell asleep into arms. And maybe they're not SO bad"
"You hated Charlie an hour ago. What changed your mind?"
"You" Juliet wrapped her arms around Sawyer's neck as his hands rested on her towel clad hips. "You light up around kids, Jules. I've never seen so much joy on your face as I have when you're around kids. You care about people so deeply and you go out of your way to protect them, and all that stuff just comes naturally to you. Having a child scares the hell outta me, but somehow with you, it just seems right. I love you so God damn much, Juliet. It would be an honour and a privilege to raise your children"
A tear slid down Juliet's cheek as she pulled Sawyer down, kissing him hard and lovingly on the lips.
"You really want to try for a baby?" She asked as they pulled away.
"When have I ever said no to that" Sawyer grinned cheekily, waggling his eyebrows before he captured Juliet's soft, delicate lips with his own rough ones.
"You do realise that if we do have a baby, you're gonna have to change its dirty diapers?"
The pale shade of green suddenly returned to Sawyer's face and Juliet couldn't help but chuckle.