Disclaimer: you know the drill. I obviously don't own this show, if I did I wouldn't be writing a fic. about it. P.S. some of the character names be may be spell wrong.

Fate.

The sun began to burn through the back of his shirt as he slowly began to wake up. And with this wakening came the ever tingling sensation in his veins. It started at the tip of his fingers, witch kept a steady beat agenst his arm. It probably even happened in his sleep, he turned his head. The sun hit his eyes in a sharp, bright ray. He squinted agenst the blinding light and freed his hand to shield his face until his eyes got used to the brightness. No use. He buried his head back into his arms and his hand began to twitch again. He tried to ignore it. His head felt heavy, and he was to lazy to lift it. What was the point of getting up? Your stuck on a beach, might as well make the best of it. Besides, who cares if a sleep all day? Not doing much good stumbling around all the time. well, I did help carry some bags..alright, enough thinking. Go to sleep. But as he told himself this, the sun grew brighter. The sound of the crashing waves grew louder with every motion. And soon, his ears opened to even more sounds. Crying. A women crying. Faint at first, then grew louder. It was more like screaming. No use in trying to sleep now. His head snapped up. He watched as Jack and Hurly tried to help Claire across the sand. Her face twisted with pain. She stumbled into the sand, no longer able to stand. The two fell beside her as she clutched her swollen stomach and gave a loud cry. He quickly stumbled to his feet and dashed across the sand. He felt the head rush hit him and stumbled again. Didn't care. He scurried to Claire side. Tears rad down her cheeks as jack mumbled something about contractions.

"Dude, is she gonna be ok?" Hurly asked, squinting his dark eye brows agenst the sun. she gave another whimper, her tiny pale hands griping the black cloth over her round abdomen. "Shes going into labor, I think" Jack replied. She gave another scream, louder this time. Her hair had fallen out of its pony tail. He watched as another wave of tears poured down her cheeks. He took one of the tiny hands on her stomach and covered it with his. She squeezed it automatically. All her strength didn't effect him. And for once in his life, it didn't shake. Before he knew it jack was holding a tiny red baby. In any other situation, he probably would have vomited. A smile grew across clair's face, melting away her tears. She let go of his hand and reached out for the tint screaming figure. Jack handed to her reluctantly. She stugled to sit up. He placed his palm firmly at her back and gave her a nudge up. He kept it there as her arms wrapped around the child's flush, trembling body. Her smile beamed brighter then ever before. She giggled silently, in aw. She glanced over at him for a moment, but then back to the baby. He placed his free hand beside its tiny red face, witch had calmed slightly. It reached out and clutched his thumb with tiny red fingers. Claire laughed even more. He was grinning ridiculously and didn't care. This was happiness. This was magic.

he laid on his back, hands behind his head. Staring up at the sky. There were no stars. Just thick black clouds. Soon it would rain, as it did often in this weather. He wondered rather he'd have to get up or not. Suddenly her herd footsteps approaching. He glanced up to see Claire standing above him. He quickly sat up and turned.

"Hey" he muttered, gazing up at her. She sat down. This was the first time he hadn't had to help her. He noticed the baggy loop left in her black tank where the stomach had ben. It now sat limply billowing in the wind. She tugged at the lose cloth uncomfortable, noticing his stair. "Sorry. Just, not used to seeing you without the..you know."

Her nose winkled up as she giggled. He now recognized the heavy line of freckles that had formed across her nose and cheeks. They weren't there when they had first meet. They must of shown up once the stomach left. "So where is he?" Charlie asked, his jaw clinching to the left. "Hes with Hurly. I had to talk him into holding him" she grinned as if it were a secret and pulled at the empty cloth again. "Im guessing you didn't bring any extra pare of...smaller cloths?" he asked, indicating the shirt. "Fraid not" she replied, brushing her fingers through her long blond hair. Her gaze wondered off to the fire, where most of the group sat. past Hurly attempting to start a conversation with the baby, past Sayid staring at the contents of the small envelop she had retrieved to Jack and Kate, who stood father off from the campfire together. "What do you think of those two?" she whispered, leaning her head very close to his. "What? Jack and Kate? I think its obvious."

"That they like each other?"she confirmed, tilting her head slightly.

"I guess some things are just meant to be" he replied, putting one hand behind his head as he leaned back agenst a tire.

"Funny how it takes an entire plain crash just to put those two together" she commented thoughtfully.

"That's fate" he replied, his engraved finger trembled agenst his chest as he spoke. She noticed the writhing for the first time and smiled. "I bet you know a lot about fate" she said, doing that little secretive grin again. "Oh this? That was just kind of pointless" he shrugged. No use in getting her into a deep philosophical conversation. That's no fun. Keep it funny. Girls like laughing. What do you know about girls? "Besides, the whole point in fate is not knowing about it."

"Yeah, I guess that was kind of a dumb question" she said, leaning back on one hand. "Not at all" he assured, giving her another silly grin. Quiet for a moment. She turned to him once again to speak, but a small strained of hair blew in her face and distracted her. He shifted at attention, despretly waiting for her question. She sat with her mouth slightly open, ready to speak, her eyes shifting as if she were trying to read the question in her mind. She smiled and tilted her head. "I'm sorry. I was about to ask you something. But I don't remember" she explained, laughing a bit.

"That's alright. Ask me again when it comes to you." he replied, pulling his keens up to his chest. The wind blue, sanding an awkward chill over them. He berried his toes into the sand, trying to warm him. "What's that?" she asked, squinting at his one bare foot. "Oh, that's my tattoo" he replied, suddenly aware that he was missing a shoe. He shifted his foot around in the remaining checkered shoe. No sign of the baggy. This is bad. This is very bad. "Two stars. Why two stars?" she asked, pushing the hair out of her face. "Uh. Again, random." he replied, trying to hide any sign of panic. "Oh great" she sighed all of a sudden, as she tried to pull herself up. "What's wrong?" he said, standing with her. "Call of nature" she replied, some what embarrassed. "Ah, well-"he nodded, brushing his hair back. "Yeah. I guess I'll see you later." "Yeah, buy" he gave her a nod and a little wave. Trying to play it off as he walked slowly closer to the water, hands in pockets, witch were defiantly empty. He waited until she had disappeared into the woods to go in search of the missing shoe. He wondered the island for a few minutes, trying to trace his foot steps. When had he lost it? It was hard to tell seeing that he hadn't realized it until now. He dug his nails into his scalp, trying to force his brain to focus by holding it still. It was no use. For all he knew it might of gotten caught up in a wave. "Damn it!" he muttered to himself, giving a heavy sigh. Just as he said this he became aware of the conversation in the distance. Claire seemed to be heading back down to find him, but the bald man called Locke had stopped her. "Excuse me, do you know who this belongs to?" he asked, holding out a small white object in one hand. "Oh, that's Charlie's" she replied. He then became very aware of what the object was. His lost shoe. "Ill give it to him" she said, with a smile. She began to approach him, carrying shoe in one hand. She gave a little run and was infront of him with in seconds. "Charlie, look" she said with a huge grin, holding out his shoe. He took it in his palm and quickly tilted, to check and see if maybe the bag was still there. "It is your's isn't it?" she asked, rasing one eye brow. "Yeah, its mine. Thanks" he replied, shaking off his panic. "Ok. Good." she replied, before lowering herself onto one of the abandoned tires. The man stared at him with bold black eyes. He knows. "How'd you lose it?" she asked, squinting up at him. Every one else seemed as if they were about to go to sleep. "I...I don't know" he replied distantly, the man wasn't staring any more. That was good. He leaned down and slid the shoe back onto his bare foot. He gave Clair a quick smile to try and duskiest his panic. "So what are you doing?" she asked, smiling back. She really knew how to smile. "Uh...looking for you, actually" nice. Very smooth. Her grin widened. "Really?" she beamed, some what embarrassed.

"Yeah. Claire where the parties at" her cheeks turned pink. His grin grew. Suddenly Hurly came stumbling over, hopping through the sand in his bare feet. "Hey, clair. Uh, here the baby. I think every one's had a good share of the love for today" he said, holding the screaming infant in one arm, wrapped in an over sized shirt. "Oh. Here-"she said, taking the baby in her arms. "Alright, well-bye" he said, giving a Macamic wave then scurrying off. "So this is him, him right?" he asked, feeling a bit bad for not remembering. "Yeah. This is him" she said, beaming. The baby stopped crying as soon as she took it. Its eyes now grew wide with wonder. A tiny hand gripped her flowing blond hair. She giggled.

"Do you want to-?" she asked suddenly, indicating he took the baby. "Oh! No, that's alright. Let him spend some time with mom" he said, smiling. She looked back to the baby, relived. She walked over to one of the discarded tires witch had turned into a very nice sitting place for the two of them, and took a seat. He sat down beside her and examen the tiny wiggling child concealed in her arms. Big blue eyes, blond whippy hair. He looked a lot like his mom. Charlie began to wonder what part of him looked like his dad. Who was his dad?

"Isn't he cut?" she asked, wrinkling up her nose. "Yeah! Adorable. Just like his mum" he replied, unconsciously laying one hand on her bare shoulder. Her skin was cold. "Are you cold?" he asked, suddenly concerned. "Oh, no. not really-"she shrugged modestly, but it was to late. He had already begun to remove the black jacket. "I guess a little" she admitted. "Here" he said, warping the jacket around her shoulders. He left one hand at its previous resort, rested on her left shoulder. The other lowered back down to his own thigh, to continue its steady beat. The baby's eyes slowly lowered shut. "I think he's sleepy" she whispered, still grinning.

"Dose he have a name yet?"

"No, not yet" she replied, shaking her head.

They sat silently for a moment. The sun had already set. Almost every one was asleep, off by the fuselodge in the distance. She laid her head back on his shoulder, something he wasn't expecting. He shuddered at the sudden contact and she lifted her head to look at him. He smiled, letting her know it was alright. She laid her head back down and soon fell asleep.