Charlie looked at the tiny baby in his arms, deaf to the roar of the ocean, the sound of Michael and Jin yelling at each other, and Hurley's sarcastic comments. Even in the days after its birth, the miracle of it all still amazed him. In this place of fear and ever-present danger a new life had began, even as another ended. When he looked at the baby's soft, round face, his heart swelled with love and pride, a feeling he never thought he would feel again.
Ten Years EarlierMeredith, called Miri by her big brothers, sat next to Charlie at the kitchen table. Looking over at her, Charlie was amused by the giggly fourteen-year-old delicately licking jam off her toast. The house was dark and quiet, save for the hushed conversation between the two teenagers who had sneaked downstairs in their pajamas for a midnight snack of jam on toast.
"So did you ask Becky to the dance yet?" Miri asked eagerly, poking Charlie in the side in an attempt to get a faster response.
"Ya."
She paused, waiting for more of an answer… "And!"
"She said maybe," Charlie picked at his bread forlornly.
"Maybe?"
"Ya! Maybe! What on earth does that mean, anyway!" the date-virgin eighteen year old snorted derisively, "Maybe!"
"I'd say she panicked in the face of such astounding manliness and the only thing her poor, overwhelmed mind could think was 'maybe'," Miri suggested confidently.
Charlie chewed his bread contemplatively, nodding vaguely, "Do I hafta spend more time with her now?"
"Kinda, ya," Miri said knowledgeably, "You should take her on a date before the night of the dance to prove how wonderful you are."
"Like where?"
"You're so cute! Eighteen years old and absolutely no idea how to take a girl on a date!"
"Hey! Don't make fun!"
"Sorry, man. Take her to a burger place," Miri's voice had lost its teasing tone, but her eyes still danced wickedly over her toast.
"Can't – it's Lent, remember?"
"Oh ya, no meat." They regarded their jam-smeared bread thoughtfully. "Does jelly count as an unnecessary luxury?"
Charlie sighed and took Miri's breat. "Yes." He threw both in the trash bin under the sink.
"I'll be back in forty days, oh sweet, gooey, sugary jelly bread!" Miri cried dramatically, putting the jam jar back in the refrigerator.
"Is there confession tomorrow?" Charlie wondered aloud.
"Yup, Mum's dragging Liam."
The two padded quietly out of the kitchen. The clock on the oven read 1:48AM. "I guess we need to go now," Charlie said, flicking off the light. Miri leaned on him heavily, yawning. "I guess. Do you think we'll get in extra trouble for breaking Lent within the first two hours?"
"I hope not."
Together they shuffled off to bed.
