Claire thought that everything would be fine as long as she and Aaron were rescued, but they're not. She gets money from Oceanic, but she wants to save most of it for Aaron's college education, so she gets a two-bedroom apartment and tries to live frugally.
None of that matters when Aaron cries out for Kate at night and asks her why she doesn't read to him about Alice.
Claire can't and won't call Kate; it'll do more harm than good and wound her pride besides, but she does give in a little and packs up the car to go see Jack.
He lives slightly outside of L.A in a nice house, and when she knocks on the door with Aaron in tow and too much luggage, he lets her in without a word. She thinks that he was expecting her.
She and Aaron are each given their own bedrooms, and Jack reads to Aaron every night. After a week, Claire wonders why she hadn't done this at the beginning.
One night after Aaron has fallen asleep, she waits for Jack to exit Aaron's room before she accosts him. "Can we stay?" she asks. "Permanently, I mean. This, you, Aaron, and me it feels right. And he loves you."
"I love him too." Jack says with a smile. "Of course you can stay."
She hugs him then, and that feels right too, her in his arms, so she kisses him then, right on the lips, and when he opens his mouth to protest, she slips her tongue in too.
Of course he stops it fairly quickly. "Claire," he says. "No."
"Aaron needs a father." she whispers close to his ear.
"I'm his uncle." Jack reminds her.
"So who better than you to be his father? You love us." He still looks hesitant, so she presses herself close to him and says, "No one will ever have to know."
He doesn't protest, and she knows that from him, that's a yes, so she kisses him again, and before she knows it, he isn't wearing a shirt and his hands are unclasping her bra.
"In the bedroom." she whispers. "So that Aaron won't..." He nods, then picks her up and carries her to his bedroom, placing her on the bed. He just looks at her for a moment before joining her, and then the kisses become more frantic.
When they're both naked with him above her, she kisses him once more. "I love you."
"I love you too," he says, and then he's inside her and that feels more right than anything else.
In the morning, she moves all of her things from her bedroom into Jack's, and tells Aaron that they're staying.
The smile he wears mirrors hers, and when she looks over at Jack, his is the same.