I can't write anything in one chapter, it seems. So this will be divided into two parts, the second of which will be posted tomorrow evening. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, whatever you celebrate.

The Wish Book

Part One

Christmas had never been Kate's favorite time of year. She wasn't a complete scrooge, but often wondered why so much fuss was made about one single day of the year. She could appreciate the delicious food or maybe spending time with loved ones, but Christmas had somewhat lost its meaning. Replacing the traditions of her youth were massive amounts of gifts that few could actually afford and the crazed shopping tradition of Black Friday.

There were too many expectations for it to be any fun.

Maybe in Dharmaville, 1977, Christmas would be different.

"You're awfully quiet. What's wrong?" Jack asked her from under the kitchen sink, where he had dissembled the drain pipe to clear a clog. Kate snickered at what a handyman he had become during their few months in Dharmaville.

She let out a light giggle. "You can't even see me. How do you figure something's wrong?"

He scooted out from underneath the cabinet, wiping his hands on a towel. "I can just tell."

"Well, it's just... what are we supposed to do about Christmas this year? I mean, we're trapped in this place, and nothing is very conventional. I don't know if they even celebrate it–"

"Judging by the Thanksgiving feast we took part in, I'm guessing they don't have anything against Christmas. We're supposed to feel 'normal' here, remember?"

Despite her reluctance toward being dumped into 1977, Kate had gotten into a routine, a practice she couldn't remember much of in the real world, and had almost begun to enjoy her time.

She was hardly great in the motor pool, where she'd been assigned to work, but Juliet was helpful in masking that, and it felt good to get her hands dirty, keep her mind off the fact she was trapped in 1977. Plus, Kate was very happy she'd avoided Jack's fate and wasn't chosen to be a janitor. To his credit, he'd never much complained about it.

And slowly, she and Jack had patched up their relationship. It helped that they lived in a fairly simple world, where she was just a pseudo-mechanic and he was just a janitor. Trepidatious of starting up with him again, because the last thing he'd been to her was a drug addict, Kate had slowly let him in, until they had made a new beginning and she almost forgot the problems that plagued their bond before.

"Maybe we should ask Juliet. Or Sawyer. They've got three years on us," Jack suggested, the mention of their names together still relatively strange.

"Yeah. I'll do that," she said, making a note to talk to Juliet about the upcoming holiday.

"Anyway, I think I've gotten this all settled," Jack said after he'd reattached the pipes, standing up to rinse his hands under hot water, scrubbing them with soap.

After he'd dried his hands, he walked to her, watching Kate's face scrunch up in displeasure as he neared.

"You're gross," she retaliated, pushing him away and pulling his hands apart from where they were joined on the small of her back.

He supposed he probably didn't smell like roses.

"You mean to say you don't like the stench of rotting food and drain grime?"

Kate cocked her head back dramatically.

"Go home. And don't come back until you've showered and changed your clothes."

Ducking down his head, he sneaked a kiss and pinched her cheek lightly.

"Oh, come on, you like seeing me be a manly man– fixing your sink, mowing your lawn, checking the water heater. You love it."

There was some truth behind her love of Herculean Jack. Seeing him chop down a tree was much more fun than hearing him talk about surgical complications, as he had in the past.

"No," she denied, feeling a small blush rise to her cheeks. "I love you. There's a difference."

The weekend was over, Kate had finally admitted to herself, examining the grease under her fingernails that she'd just managed to erase the day before, as she tried not to think about how much she'd rather be lying in bed with Jack all day, as they had done on Sunday.

She and Juliet were busy fixing up a utility van that Hurley had driven through a dense part of the jungle, resulting in dangling metal pieces Kate thought were probably important to the vehicle's health.

When Angela, the third woman in the motor pool, had left to get some lunch, Kate finally brought up the subject of Dharmaville Christmas.

"Ben hasn't given you the catalog?" Juliet asked her, squinting in the sunlight and wiping sweat from her brow. It didn't matter what month it was on the island; it was always hot.

"Very funny," Kate said, realizing how thankful she was to have Juliet's company during the day.

Juliet sat on one of the rusty stools in the covering that served as the garage. "I'm serious," she said lightly. "It's like the JcPenney catalog of Dharmaville."

Kate laughed in disbelief and wondered why anything took her by surprise anymore. "And it'll get here in time? There're only, what, three weeks until Christmas?"

"You know as well as I do that just about anything is possible here," she grinned. "I only ordered a few days ago. Just think, no more Black Friday."

"You did that?" Kate shot back. She didn't like getting up early, let alone being shoved by overzealous shoppers, all for saving a little bit of money.

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Guilty. Anyway, I'll give you my copy since I'm done with it. But no copying what I picked out for Sawyer."

Instead of letting Juliet's knowledge of her past relationship with Sawyer become an awkward conversation piece, Kate brushed it aside. It wasn't as if Jack and Juliet had a completely innocent past, either.

"Well, they're pretty different," Kate said simply, grinning when the other woman agreed in laughter.

The two returned to the underbelly of the van, sighing at the damage. "He really did this one in," Juliet said, reaching for her tools while Kate pulled at a piece of shredded, hanging metal.

"I know it's early and all, but have you and Jack made Christmas plans?"

Kate shook her head. "Nope. We just had the whole discussion yesterday and realized we didn't even know if Dharma celebrated Christmas..."

"It can be a little bit depressing," Juliet said. "You know, when you're reminded of the Christmases of your past, how you spent them with family, the traditions. It's different."

"Well, you know me and family. I haven't had a very exciting Christmas yet," she replied. "But I think it will be nice, having Jack with me at least. He's really changed."

The women paused before Juliet agreed. "Well, just the same, you and Jack should join us this year. It's just gonna be me and Sawyer. It'd be nice to have some company."

Kate hoped it was a sign of the strides the two couples had made that prompted Juliet to extend the invitation. Holidays were generally stressful, pressure-filled events in Kate's family, in which everyone always managed to indulge in just a little too much wine. She wondered if the upcoming one would be the same.

She chuckled.

"What?" Juliet asked, concerned that Kate was offended by her invitation.

"If Jack and Sawyer can act like big boys..." she managed, both women laughing at all of the altercations the two had in the past. "I'll talk it over with Jack, get him straightened out. You do the same with Sawyer. If all goes well, we're in."

Jack laid in bed that night with Kate snuggled up against him, wishing it was cold enough outside that they could put flannel sheets on the bed.

He wasn't sure why he hadn't just moved in already. Kate was lucky enough to have never been assigned a roommate, but there was a new recruiting class coming in soon, and Jack was afraid if he didn't jump now, he might not get the chance. He liked living with Hurley and was provided with laughs on a daily basis, but felt that Kate might provide something more.

Part of him was hesitant; everything had been fine between the two in the past, in the real world, before they lived together, then the relationship had combusted. He knew things were different now, they were better now. He wasn't popping pills and getting drunk every night. He'd shaved off his beard.

"I talked to Sawyer today," he said quietly, forcing his brain to switch topics. "About Christmas."

Kate turned in his arms so she faced him. "Okay," she said, treating the conversation delicately. Sawyer wasn't their favorite subject.

"He said there's a catalog?" he questioned, and Kate nodded, pecking him on the lips at his puzzled look.

"That's what Juliet told me too."

Stretching over to the bedside table, Jack opened the drawer and pulled out the thick wish book. "Well, he gave this to me."

They leaned against the headboard and flipped through the catalog, laughing at the ugly clothing they'd seen their parents wearing in old pictures, at the antiquated appliances and toys.

"See anything you want?" Jack asked when they'd finished.

Kate sat between his outstretched legs and against his chest, rubbing soft circles into his palms.

"I could really go for that blowout set," she laughed. "I want my hair to look exactly like Farrah Fawcett's.

Jack laughed. "I think I'll go ahead and pick out something else."

"And what about you?"

"I don't need anything."

Kate huffed. "Typical male response. Of course you don't need anything."

Jack looped his arms around her torso so his hands met on her stomach, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Okay, fine. I have everything I want, then." He glanced poignantly at her.

"Jack," she turned around, pressing her lips against his, shivering when his hands crept up her back against her bare skin, letting him flip her over and pin her against the mattress. "That was delightfully cheesy."

Up next: The big day arrives, and Jack and Kate share it with Sawyer and Juliet.