Boone quickly finished his shower, and made apologies to Kate.

When he got back to his place, the space outside the door where he'd last seen her suitcase was vacant, and the jeans he'd carefully draped over the top of it were discarded in the dirt along with his splint. He felt a momentary panic as he stared at the empty spot, wondering if she'd already left him, reaching forward with an unsteady hand he pulled a corner of the door flap back.

Her crap was all over the place, his formerly orderly home now looked like a Macy's dressing room at the height of a Boxing Day sale. He didn't know if he should be relieved she was still there or pissed that she'd trashed the place. Boone entered and crossed to where Shannon was kneeling in front of her now empty suitcase, careful not to entangle his feet or his 'crutch' in a wayward t-shirt or skirt and fall crashing to the floor.

Shannon was holding a pair of shorts against her chest and sniffling quietly.

"Shan?" Boone asked tentatively, with her back to him, he couldn't read her mood.

"I don't even know why I brought any of this stuff. It's all too tight now." She held the shorts out and sobbed once. "This are my biggest pair, and I can barely get them done up. I'm getting so fat!"

Boone pressed a hand to his head, his mind close to melt down from trying to keep up with her mercurial mood swings. 'Six more months of this shit?' He groaned. They were stranded on a desert island with polar bears and psychopaths and she was worried about getting fat and that her Gap shorts weren't maternity?

"Shannon, you're not getting fat, you're pregnant, and we'll get you some more clothes later. There's a whole storeroom of extra stuff for you to pick from, and there's Claire's maternity clothes too. I'm sure she'll let you have them." Boone told her, placatingly.

"You think I'm being silly." She accused, reading the tone of his voice, but she stopped sobbing.

"No, I don't think you're being silly, well…maybe a bit I do, but I'm having a hard time keeping up here. Are all pregnant women like this? Or am I just extra blessed with a whacked out one? What's gotten into you?" Boone dropped into brother mode, forgetting to tiptoe around her.

"You got into me Boone. Or did you forget that already?" Shannon threw the shorts at him.

"No Shannon, I didn't forget." He huffed in a tired voice, catching the item before it hit him in the face. "I mean, why are you crying over your clothes, and why did you freak out at the shower?"

"Because maybe I don't want to shower in public once I look like I've swallowed a beach ball, idiot!" Boones' bitchy sister spat.

"What's that got to do with me showering? Jesus Shannon, it was like you were jealous of Kate. She's with Jack, why the hell would she want me? Just look at me, I'm skinny and covered with scars, I've got a bum leg, and I trip over my own feet." Boones' voice was increasing in volume now, as the siblings ramped up into a full-fledged fight.

"So I'm an idiot now?" Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"How did I just call you an idiot?" Boone cried in mystification.

"You're not good enough for Kate, but somehow you're good enough for me? I'm so pathetic that I get the runt of the litter?" She poked him hard in the chest almost sending him sprawling, he still hadn't reattached his splint, and hovered his right leg over the ground, desperately trying not to put his foot down.

"Your girlfriends used to think I was hot enough for them!" He wasn't even making any sense anymore, completely contradicting his early statement that he was unappealing.

"Well I wished you'd knocked one of them up instead of me, and she'd ended up stuck with you!" She was almost spitting in his face.

The door flap was thrown back, and Jack entered without being invited. "Enough!"

The two were facing off against each other, Boone in just a towel and Shannon bare legged in one of his t-shirts, their faces inches apart.

"I'm sure they can hear you on the beach. Where's your splint?" He demanded of Boone. "And you're pregnant?" He turned on Shannon.

"Outside the door," Boone muttered as Shannon pouted "Yeah," sullenly, each of them answering the question Jack had directed at them.

Correctly surmising that Boone would be the easier one to deal with Jack ignored the more startling of the two answers and turned to the boy. "One more week Boone, just give me one more week wearing it. I know you're getting frustrated, and fed up, but just humour me on this."

Boone nodded in agreement, the two of them looking like kids getting a dressing down from their father as they faced him, heads hanging low.

"So you're pregnant, and it's his," Jack addressed Shannon. "I guess that explains why you're suddenly living together now, I thought there had to be a piece of the puzzle missing." Jack ran a hand over his short hair as he regarded the pair. "Just when did you have an opportunity? Except for right after Boone's accident, and he was hardly in any shape to procreate then, you've barely spoken to each since the crash, and you sure as hell didn't look like a couple when you were speaking. So…?"

"It was before the crash, the night before, just the once." Boone admitted sheepishly. "And I only found out about the baby yesterday."

"A one night stand?" Jack exclaimed in surprise and looked at Boone, thinking that the kid must still be reeling at the unexpected news. Jesus, hadn't they ever heard of condoms? "You hardly seem the type."

"And I do?" Shannon's head came up as she glared at Jack; Boone winced as the edge crept back into her tone.

Jack just looked at her flatly, indicating quite clearly that 'yes' she did in fact.

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" She demanded of Boone.

"Well, you did come to my hotel. And you did throw yourself at me, even though I tried to push you off and told you no." He pointed out, shrugging and raising an eyebrow.

Shannon took a breath, obviously intending to launch into another tirade, but Jack cut her off. "Enough, not again, no one wants to listen to you."

She pinched her lips together, her eyes narrowed with anger.

Jack glanced between the two of them, "I'm sure there's a very interesting story here, but I don't want to hear it. So September 21st then?" They both nodded. "At least we have a conception date, that'll make guessing the delivery date easier. You feel alright?" He asked Shannon.

She nodded, "Yeah," The fight gone out of her.

"Maybe you should check her out anyway?" Boone suggested.

"No, I'm not an obstetrician and besides, if she feels okay, she probably is. Barring any complications, I'd say you two are going to be parents in about six months, but no more fighting. Boone, you're recovering from, well, dying actually, and Shannon, you're going to have a baby. Unless you want a relapse and you want it arriving prematurely, you're going to have to control yourselves," Jack told them flat out.

Again the pair nodded sheepishly, muttering agreement.

"Good," Jack turned to go.

"What about sex?" Boone asked, suddenly remembering a concern that he'd had as they'd made love in the night.

"I'd say you've got the basics covered." Jack commented dryly, purposely misunderstanding. He wondered at the oddity of the question when they'd just been at each other's throats, why was the boy thinking about sex now? Oh, right twenty-two, he vaguely remembered being that young.

He could only imagine the complexity of their relationship, and how they were struggling to cope with its completely new facets; Kate and he had discussed it at length last night in their quarters. The stepbrother/stepsister thing didn't bother them, but he knew it would disturb some, and that Boone and Shannon were undoubtedly going to have to face some awkward moments. It was going to be new territory for each of them, though the bond between them appeared strong, it was going to require some major attitude adjustments on their part. He only hoped the camp survived their adjustment period without ruptured eardrums, or a homicide.

"No, I mean," He gestured a bit helplessly at Shannon, "before the baby comes, how long…I mean, how close to the due date can we…is it safe?" He fell silent, his face burning bright scarlet.

Shannon looked at him with an amused grin on her face as he fumbled out the gist of his question. She didn't even realize he'd wondered about that; it certainly hadn't occurred to her, though trust Boone to consider the details.

"As long as it's comfortable for Shannon, I guess. She'll know." Jack shook his head at the two of them in exasperation and turned quickly and left.

Jack leaned against the outside wall of the cave briefly and took a deep breath; he certainly had his doubts. They were both barely out of their teens, Shannon almost certainly not ready for motherhood, though he held out more hope for Boone's suitability as a father. The boy was unquestionably very responsible, though from the looks of things, she certainly knew how to push his buttons. It was going to prove to be an interesting six months.

He dispersed the small crowd that had gathered, drawn by the raised voices, as had he; the gossip would race through the camp quickly, he knew. Everyone had undoubtedly heard every word from inside. Jack headed off to tell Kate what the missing piece of the puzzle was and do his part to spread the news.

Now alone again, Boone apologized, though he wasn't really sure what for, and got dressed, while Shannon cleaned up the mess she'd made. Both of them silently avoiding each other, a feat almost impossible in the small space, but they managed. Once he pulled a fresh t-shirt over his head, letting it fall untucked over his jeans, Boone announced, "I have to get to work."

"Work? What work?" Shannon demanded sharply.

He explained that they were all assigned different tasks, Jacks' whole 'live together, die alone' theme. One of his jobs was preparing the fruit for breakfast. It was a nice stationary job, something he could manage to do while seated. He was an early riser and had good knife skills; so he'd been given it. Besides this way was also safer, you had one person with a knife doing all the cutting, instead of a several people with knives, which would have exponentially increased the risk of accident.

"They've turned you to a scullery maid? How cute," Shannon said sarcastically, still smarting from Jack's tongue lashing.

"We all have to help out, Shan. And besides, I think a scullery maid did dishes." He told her, though not entirely positive he was correct.

"Whatever Boone, go chop your fruit, be a nice little kitchen slave. I'm going to have a shower. We only have sponge baths at the beach and swimming in the ocean. It'll be nice being even marginally clean for a change." She waved her hand in dismissal.

"Come and find me when you're done?" Boone requested, hopefully.

She pushed past him and out the door, pausing long enough to grab a dry towel from a rock shelf and give him a brief smile and a nod, his puppy dog eyes thawing her slightly. "I will."

Shannon stood under the shower, replaying the events of the morning. Something was going to have to put the brakes to the roller coast ride they'd been on since yesterday when she'd told Boone everything. If not, their attempt to mend the horrifically damaged bridges of their past and forge a future together was doomed before it even started. They needed to slow things down; they needed to find some alone time to talk. She was pregnant with Boone's child, but that certainly didn't obligate him; as he'd just pointed out to Jack, she'd seduced him. She wanted him, she was sure of that, she wanted them to have a future together, but there were so many factors working against it. 'I need to apologize to him. I need to apologize for everything, but he needs to understand where I'm coming from, how I feel.' Shannon wondered if she was still being too self-centred, after all it wasn't Boone that had actually done anything to her; it was his mother, yet still she harboured bitterness towards him, even as she loved him.

She wrapped the towel around herself and wandered back to their place, spying Boone as she passed, conversing with one of the other survivors, a warm smile on his face. He caught a glimpse of her and turned the full force of his Carlyle Enterprises smile on her, this time it was genuine, not just flash to win over a client. She blushed and grinned back at him, holding her finger up in the air, 'one' she mouthed, and he nodded.

The guy he was talking to turned and followed his gaze, "I heard congratulations are in order, you guys have a baby on the way."

"Yeah," Boone acknowledged as he portioned the man's breakfast out, careful to omit the guava; Andy didn't like guava. "Thanks."

"Good luck with that." Andy commented a bit sceptically as he headed off with his bowl.

Boone breathed a bit of a bitter laugh, 'We'll need it,' he thought. He'd been mulling over many of the same points that Shannon had and had come to much the same conclusion. If they didn't sort themselves out soon, things were going to get a whole lot worse, before, or if, they had even a glimmer of a chance of getting better.