Title: The Baby Whisperer
Pairing: Sawyer/Claire
Rating: G
Timeline: After Do No Harm as Turniphead exists
Summary: Claire goes to great lengths to calm fussy Aaron, and Sawyer proves to be a big help.
Disclaimer: I don't own LOST, or Bad Robot, and I know no one involved with anything about the show, or anyone at ABC. This is merely fiction :)
The Baby Whisperer
The golden light of early morning slowly began to creep its way across the water. The fires seemed to grow dimmer as the light got brighter, and the light grey clouds hanging in the air turned to the colour of daffodils before burning in the rising heat. A few birds twittered softly in the canopy, breaking the silence that had settled overnight. Eventually the sunlight made its way over the endless expanse of water and began to warm the sands of the beach, soaking into tarps and metal, warming the inhabitants of shelters scattered around haphazardly.
Suddenly a baby's wail pierced the silence, sending the birds flying from their trees in fright. Claire's eyes snapped open with a start and she frantically sat up, trying to wake herself mentally as well as physically. She hurried over to Aaron and scooped him out of the cradle, rocking him gently back and forth.
"Shhh... its okay.." she soothed, rocking him. His diaper was still clean, so that was one thing that wasn't wrong. She sat back down and lifted her shirt, seeing if he wanted to nurse. He did for not even two minutes before he started to fuss again. Claire rocked him, hoping desperately he would be quiet. She murmured comforting words, gently stroking the baby's head but he wasn't pacified. Growing more and more distressed, she suddenly remembered something. She got up and hurried across the sand in her bare feet, covering Aaron in a blanket, hoping to muffle his cries even the smallest bit. She finally reached the other end of the beach and knocked on the metal doorframe that was covered by a tarp.
"Sawyer?" she whispered loudly, trying to get his attention without waking up anyone nearby. She bounced Aaron slightly to try and get him to be quiet and knocked on the metal again. When no one answered she sighed, desperate, and pulled back the tarp, quickly entering his shelter. He was lying on the ground in his jeans, shirtless, fast asleep. She watched him sleep for a moment, amazed he was still out of it with Aaron crying. Then she prodded his leg with her foot.
Sawyer woke with a start, sitting up so fast that Claire took a step backwards in alarm. He blinked groggily up at her and recognized her.
"Oh, its you.." his hand came up to rub his eyes, then run through his dishevelled hair. "Something I can do for you, Mama Cita?" he asked sleepily, trying to focus on the noisy bundle in her arms.
"I... well..." she was suddenly feeling awkward. She'd just barged in here, uninvited, holding a howling baby. "Can you please help me with Aaron? I know he likes your voice... I was hoping you could read to him or something to make him go back to sleep...please!" She sounded so desperate that Sawyer smiled slightly. As much as the baby annoyed him, he didn't mind doing this for her. And bonus, the baby would actually be quiet afterwards. He nodded and rubbed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the heavy, sleepy feeling.
"Siddown, then" he told her, his voice hoarse still. He cleared his throat as he looked around for the book he had been reading. He saw it on the other side of the tent and shuffled over to it on his knees, not alert enough to manage standing up. He grabbed the book and headed back to Claire and the baby and sat down, opening to where he'd last left off.
"When are we going home?" Meg asked anxiously. "What about Mother? What about the twins? They'll be terribly worried about us. When we didn't come in at bedtime--well, Mother must be frantic by now. She and the twins and Fort will have been looking and looking for us, and or course we aren't there to be found!"
"Now, don't worry, my pet," Mrs. Whatsit said cheerfully. "We took care of that before we left. Your mother has had enough to worry her with you and Charles to cope with, and not knowing about your father, without our adding to her anxieties. We took a time wrinkle as well as a space wrinkle. It's very easy to do if you just know how."
Claire was amazed as Aaron slowly drifted back to sleep, somehow soothed by the southern man's rough voice. Claire herself was transfixed, but for different reasons. Reasons that made her clear her throat and blush slightly. When Sawyer stopped reading, Claire saw that Aaron was asleep.
"Thank you so much.." she whispered to Sawyer, standing up carefully, so as not to jolt the sleeping baby. She leaned over and bravely gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I owe you one." She smiled at him and left the tent, leaving Sawyer with a tingly feeling on his cheek. He stared at the flap of tarp that was his door, letting the book fall into his lap, wishing she'd stayed a little longer.
