Chapter 2

Jack blinks awake and immediately freezes when he realizes there is a warm body next to him. After his eyes adjust to the dim light coming in as the sun rises, he finds a familiar head of curly brown hair lying on her side facing him, very little space between their bodies and her hand clutching his shirt as she continues to sleep. It is then that he realizes his arm is around her, his hand touching the skin at the small of her back where her shirt had ridden up.

He carefully moves his hand from her back up to her face, gently brushing some stray curls from her face so that he can study her as she sleeps. Unable to resist, he leans in to press his lips to her forehead. She slowly stirs, her hand tightening its grip on his shirt. "Good morning," he whispers.

"Don't go yet," she mumbles, moving closer to him.

He checks the clock on the nightstand over her shoulder, "I can stay for a little while."

"Good," she says, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Sorry I fell asleep," he smiles at her.

"Aaron was exhausted too. Told him you'd read to him some other time."

"I'm not on call this weekend. Maybe I could come over then and read to him," his hand moves down to her hip, his thumb making soft circles on her skin.

"Okay."

"And maybe you'll let me take you out."

"I will have to ask the nanny if she is free this weekend."

"Aaron has a nanny?"

"Someone had to watch him while I was in prison for over four months, Jack."

"Four months?" he asks, surprised.

She shrugs, "They thought I was a flight risk."

He laughs, "Well, I guess if I had to bet on it, I never would have thought you would stay put either."

Ignoring his comment, she says, "Anyway, I'm pretty sure you had a way more privileged childhood than I ever did, Jack. One where children have nannies."

"I didn't have a nanny."

"She was just a babysitter before I went to prison, watched him once or twice a week when I ran errands or had to meet with my lawyer. She was great with him while I was gone… except the chicken fingers. I don't intend for him to have a full-time nanny now that I'm free."

"Get any tattoos in prison?" he asks, teasing her since she had always been so interested in his tattoos.

"No," she says, running her hand over the ink covering his upper arm.

"Bet you caused a lot of trouble."

"I didn't want to ruin my chances of getting out if I wasn't convicted. I was a model prisoner."

"Get in any fights?"

She smiles and looks at her hand resting on his chest, "Just one. She started it."

"And you finished it?" he grins. When she doesn't respond, he knows that he is correct. "You know, I can't imagine you sitting in a prison cell all day."

"It was awful. When we first crashed, I thought nothing could be worse than being stranded on an island. But at least I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted on the island. Even those cages the Others put us in weren't so bad in comparison."

"I, uh… your mom was supposed to testify but she had some kind of medical emergency, right? Is she okay? Because if she needs help, I can refer her to a good specialist for whatever she needs," he offers, unaware of her history with her mother.

She rolls onto her back, moving away from him. "I have no idea where or how she is."

"Why was she testifying for the prosecution anyway? Why would she want to help put you in jail when you were just trying to help her?" he asks, suddenly confused.

Kate turns her face away from him and closes her eyes. "She's the one who turned me in for killing him. She tried to make a deal with me; she wanted to see Aaron, thought he was her grandson. But I refused, wanted nothing to do with her. I… I don't know why she didn't testify."

"Oh… I'm sorry, Kate."

They both remain silent for several minutes, neither knowing what else to talk about.

"I guess I should probably be leaving for work," Jack says, sitting up. "I certainly did not miss the LA traffic while we were on the island."

She laughs and follows him down the stairs, "Yeah, I still don't understand why it takes so long to get anywhere in this city."

He turns to smile at her, "I'll give you a call when I get off work and we can talk about this weekend."

"Okay," she nods.

He leans in to kiss her, but she turns her head when Aaron calls out for her and his lips meet her cheek instead. "Sorry," she whispers, biting her lip. "You should probably go now, or he's going to keep you here for another hour."

"Mommy?" Aaron calls again.

"Talk to you later," Jack quickly presses his lips to hers before heading out the door.

"Yes, Aaron?" Kate turns around to find him approaching the top of the stairs.

"Jack gone," the boy pouts, carefully making his way down the stairs to her. "He didn't read to me."

When he reaches her, she picks him up, "Well, he had to go to work. But he said he'll come back this weekend to see you and read you a bedtime story."

"Yay!"

"Now, how about we go make breakfast?" she says as she carries him to the kitchen.

~Lost~

Jack waits for nearly a full minute after ringing the door bell before she answers, still in her pajamas and looking somewhat sleepy. "Hey, Jack," she says with a yawn, stepping out of the way to let him in. "Aaron just woke up; he was having nightmares last night so neither one of us slept all that well."

"Jack?" Aaron yells, running around the corner from the living room to the entryway and wrapping his arms around the man's legs.

"Hey, buddy, it's good to see you again. I got something for you."

"Flowers?" the boy frowns at the bouquet of purple flowers that Jack is holding.

"No, those are for your mom," he smiles at Kate as he hands them over. Then he hands Aaron the bag he had been carrying, "This is for you."

"Wow," Aaron exclaims as he pulls out a toy airplane and starts running around the house pretending that it's flying.

"So… we haven't gotten to breakfast yet. Care to join us?"

"How about I cook breakfast for you? And you can relax or go back to sleep for a bit?"

"Alright. Maybe I'll go shower, see if that wakes me up," she smiles.

"I'll have coffee waiting for you in case it doesn't," he grins, taking a small step closer to her and reaching out to put his hands on her waist.

Just then Aaron runs in between them, flying his airplane around the house and forcing the adults to move further apart.

"I think the island has given him special powers to sense when I try to kiss you," Jack whispers.

She laughs, "Sure, Jack."

Half an hour later Kate comes downstairs to find Jack and Aaron making waffles, and she smiles at the sight of the two of them together. The table is already set for the three of them with the flowers he had brought in a vase in the center. Jack catches her watching them out of the corner of his eye, but before he can react, the phone rings, and she steps out of the room to answer it.

When she returns, Aaron and Jack are sitting at the table waiting for her. As she takes a seat with them, Aaron says, "We go to the zoo, Mommy."

"The zoo?" she asks, looking between the two of them.

"Aaron told me he's never been. I thought the three of us could spend the day together at the zoo before you and I go to dinner," Jack says as he serves each of them.

"Actually dinner's going to have to be rescheduled. That was Veronica on the phone; her mother is in the hospital so she can't watch him tonight."

"Oh…" the doctor says, unable to stop the disappointment that crosses his face. "I guess we can all go out to dinner then."

"You read to me?" Aaron asks, digging into the waffle that Kate cuts up and covers in syrup for him.

"Sure, buddy, I will read to you tonight."

"Yay!"

They chatter about all of the animals that they will see at the zoo while they eat. Jack sends Kate to get Aaron ready while he cleans up the dishes from breakfast. Once Aaron is dressed, he goes to play with some of his cars while she helps Jack.

"Sorry about tonight," she says quietly.

"It's not your fault," he smiles at her. "I was thinking… my mom was always pestering me and Sarah for grandchildren when we were married. And she was fond of you and Aaron when we first got back from the island. Maybe… she could watch him so we could go out."

"I don't know, Jack. I've never left him with anyone but Veronica before."

"Just think about it, Kate," he brushes his hand over hers.

"Are you just trying to get me alone, Jack?" she smirks as she puts the waffle maker away, avoiding meeting his gaze. He frowns, not sure how to answer. "I'll think about it. But you promised to read to him tonight."

"I will," he dries his hands on a towel before placing them on the counter on either side of her waist. "But some alone time would be nice."

"Time for the zoo?" Aaron asks, carrying a car into the kitchen with him as he comes to find them.

"Yes," Jack says, moving away from her to pick the boy up. "We just have to get your car seat in my truck."

Kate glares at him, "We are not riding in that death trap of yours."

"Aw," the boys pouts.

"It's perfectly safe," the doctor insists.

"No. It's just easier to take my car."

"She's no fun," Jack whispers to Aaron as they head to the door.

"I heard that," she shakes her head as she locks the front door behind them and hands her car keys to him.

~Lost~

"I hungry," Aaron says as they leave the elephants. "And I gotta potty."

"There are some food places up ahead. Why don't you go on and get lunch? I'll take him to the bathroom," Jack suggests.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Uh… I'm not really that picky, Kate."

She grins, "Then I will get you a vegetarian meal too."

"Just pick whatever is least appetizing to you, and I will probably like it," he laughs as they part, him guiding Aaron over to the nearest restrooms.

Ten minutes later Kate carries a tray with their lunch over to the table that the boys are seated at. She places a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of Aaron and hands Jack a turkey and ham sandwich before sitting down to her salad.

"Mommy, guess what?" Aaron exclaims, the words somewhat garbled around the big bite of sandwich he had taken. "Boys pee standing up."

"They do?" she turns to Jack and finds him wincing as he avoids her gaze.

"Jack's gonna teach me," he says, taking another bite of peanut butter and jelly.

"He is?"

"The bathroom was kind of busy, and Aaron was… curious," Jack mumbles.

"Maybe Jack can teach you when you're a little older," she smiles at Aaron.

After a few minutes of eating, Aaron asks, "Can I have a polar bear?"

"Uh…" she glances at Jack, the connection to the island noted by both of them. "I know that the bears looked fun when they were playing in the water, but they aren't pets."

"It stay in my room."

"No, we are not getting a polar bear."

"Aw…"

As they eat, they talk about the favorite animals that they've seen so far - Aaron's is still the polar bears - and the animals that they are going to see that afternoon. "We still have the lions and tigers," Jack says.

"Roar," Aaron smiles.

"You seen the Lion King?" Jack asks.

"What's that?"

"You have?" Kate asks skeptically. "Weren't you in med school when that came out?"

"My ex-wife was an elementary school teacher. You seen it?" At her head shake, he smiles, "You'd like it. The little lion cub is spunky and adventurous and doesn't listen to anyone."

She ignores his jab and takes another bite of her salad.

"So what is your favorite Disney movie?"

"Beauty and the Beast," she blushes, intently studying her salad. "Tom… took me to see it on our first official date."

"And you actually watched the movie? I would've thought you'd be too busy making out to pay attention to it."

She throws a crouton at him and laughs, "It might be hard for you to believe, but I was not always a bad person."

He hesitates for a moment before responding, a shy smile on his face. "I don't think you're a bad person, Kate."