Title: Nobody Told Me
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Kate Austen, Sam Austen, James Ford, Claire Littleton, Aaron Littleton
Summary: Written to a prompt from the Weekend Challenge on the 1_million_words community on LiveJournal. The prompt was simply, "Nobody Told Me..." and it made me think of Kate and her dad, Sam Austen. It's set a few weeks after Kate, Claire, Sawyer, Miles, Richard and Frank Lapidus make it back, quietly and unceremoniously, stateside.
Kate found him chopping wood dressed in a plain white t-shirt, his weekend khakis, and hiking boots and she watched for a while, leaning against a tree, smiling.
Sam had bought the big house with a dozen acres outside of Seattle in the chaotic months after she'd won her court case. The first time she'd come home. They'd spent a long weekend there tracking deer, like in the old days. Except, it wasn't the old days.
They'd both done their best, though.
Then Jack showed up again, and brought the usual chaos with him.
She'd gone back, all right, but she'd made goddamned sure she fucked Jack's brains out the night before. Because they might, maybe, get stuck there all over again. And women who conceived off of the island? They tended to survive.
She sure wasn't risking spending the rest of her life without the one thing she'd ever had that was actually worth something: A son.
She's pretty sure it's a son.
"Katherine Anne?"
He never uses her full name; only her mom ever does, but apparently the shock of seeing her…
"Yeah, daddy. I'm back. For good, I hope."
"I would have come. To L.A. to see you…" he's dropped the axe and is walking her way, a big hand folding to cup her left cheek and she finds herself squinting. "…but nobody told me.
"It's all right. I know how that goes. Lots of things nobody told me."
He flinches at that, and she feels bad. Really cheap shot.
"Who…?"
He's seen the car, now, a tenth of a mile up the driveway – Sawyer leaning against the hood in a black shirt and jeans, arms folded. Nearby there's a small blonde lady chasing her little boy as he runs in circles, gathering pine cones, rocks and sticks.
"They're my friends, daddy. From… you know."
He looks at her like he's re-evaluating his earlier opinion that maybe it had all been a crazy dream of hers. He'd acted that way when she'd confided in him; like she was Alice and he wasn't buying the whole Looking Glass thing one damn bit.
"I went back for Claire. That's Aaron with her - he's a little bigger now than you remember him. And that's Sawyer."
"He's not…."
She wants to laugh at the look on his face but she swallows it.
"No, daddy. He's not. We're friends. He won't be your cup of tea, I'm pretty sure. But please be patient with him, okay? We've been through a lot together."
She sees for the first time that she's an adult by the way he gives in and nods in agreement, how his hand is out to shake Sawyer's the second they get to the top of the driveway.
Then it's a blur of parking the car, bringing in the suitcases, making an early dinner and a camp fire and the next time she surfaces from a moment to herself she's lying on a sleeping bag, staring at the stars
They're so bright in the black, black sky. Just like….
She sits up and sees Sawyer dead asleep on the blanket he and Claire are sharing, an arm over Claire who is curled around Aaron and the sight sends a stab of happy/jealous through her.
She's not entirely surprised. It makes perfect sense. The four of them are all they've got.
"Kate?"
Sam's been watching them all decompress around the fire and Kate notices how he's staring at her, eyes full of concern, glancing between her face and her waist.
She looks down at the first hint of baby bump and smiles.
"Is it…"
"Jack's," she says, and she doesn't have to say anything more – he can see the answer to his next question.
"Katie, I'm so sorry…"
Sam pulls her in and Kate has to fight, literally has to fight off the urge to pull away.
She's so used to pulling away.
Then she's engulfed, surrounded by strong arms and the smell of Old Spice and someone stronger than her holding her up and she gives in, lets the sobs roll out of her, silent but racking as he whispers long 'shhhhhh' sounds in her ear.
"It's okay. It'll all be okay," Sam says, and she knows it will.
She's home.
They're all home.